What is the Rooney Rule? Explains the NFL’s mandate to interview minority candidates, its effectiveness, and criticism
The NFL’s Rooney Rule is one of the most scrutinized professional league regulations in American sport.
The rule is intended to ensure fairer recruitment practices among league teams as it concerns minority applicants for jobs and office positions.
This rule has received much criticism since its original introduction. Some have complained that the NFL creates a formal policy based on affirmative action. Others argue that the rule is not nearly enough to ensure Black and minority candidates have equal access to coaching opportunities and main office, despite the fact that 70 percent of the league’s players. fight is Black. This, in a union with no Black owners and only two minority owners (Shahid Khan of the Jaguars and Kim Pegula, who co-owns the Bills with her husband, Terry).
This rule has become a more talked about topic in recent years. That’s especially true among critics who say it hasn’t made real change in the NFL, as Black coordinators like Team Leader ‘Eric Bieniemy and DeMeco Ryans of the 49ers’, among others , were not able to match their success to the job of training heads of offices.
The conversation around the Rooney Rule has come to an end following a class-action lawsuit against the NFL and its teams by former Dolphins coach Brian Flores. He claimed the federation knowingly engaged in discriminatory recruitment practices and only acted in compliance with its mandate to avoid fines and other penalties.
With that, Sporting News has everything you need to know about the Rooney Rule, including its purpose, rationale, history, and criticisms:
Why is it called the Rooney Rule?
It is named after Dan Rooney, the former owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers and former chairman of the league’s diversity committee, who spearheaded the initiative in 2002.
What is the Rooney Rule?
The Rooney Rule is an NFL diversity policy that requires teams to interview minority candidates outside the organization for coaching and office positions. The Rooney Rule has undergone a number of “improvements” during its existence to ensure fairer hiring practices and greater opportunities for Black and other minority candidates. .
In 2009, the NFL expanded the Rooney Rule to include general manager jobs and equivalent office positions. In 2018, The NFL mandates the following changes for the Rooney Rule:
- The club must interview at least one diverse candidate from the Career Development Advisory Board list or one diverse candidate not currently employed by the club
- Clubs must continue to recommend that best practice consider a wide variety of applicants
- Clubs must maintain adequate records and make available to the league at the request of the Commissioner
- If the final decision maker is involved at the outset, he or she must be involved at the end of the process.
THAN: Brian Flores Says Stephen Ross’ $100K Per Loss Proposition Was The Reason His Dolphins Was Fired
In May 2020, NFL Advances Even More effectiveness of the Rooney Rule by changing the league’s anti-tamper policy. Specifically, the authorization prohibits teams from denying the opportunity to interview with other teams for head coach or coordinator positions, regardless of contract status. It also allows people in lower-level office positions to interview for an assistant manager job with another group. The purpose of these changes is to improve the mobility of minority coaches to take on other teams’ roles.
The NFL also directly improved on the Rooney Rule that month – without a league election – by requiring teams to interview at least two outside minority candidates for head coaching opportunities (up from one) , at least one outside minority candidate for coordinator positions and at least one outside minority candidate for senior football executive positions.
The league’s owners introduced a policy at a similar meeting that would provide additional benefits to teams hiring coaches and non-white GMs. Under the tabulated policy, teams that have hired a non-white head coach will move up six places from their third-round spot prior to that coach’s second year on the job; non-white GM teams would go up 10 places under the same circumstances. Those benefits will be revoked if those teams fire the coach/GM after just one season.
In November of that year, the owners approved a similar policy to reward teams that develop minority coaches and executives. This policy allows a team that loses an assistant coach or a minority executive – becoming the head coach or GM of another team – to receive third-round compensation in two years. If a team loses both the coach and the chief executive officer, that team will receive said selection for three years.
The latest change comes in October 2021, where it is mandatory for teams to interview at least two outside minority candidates for GM/football executive positions and all coordinator positions. The Rooney Rule also requires at least one face-to-face interview for head coach positions; while coordinator positions can be virtual, face-to-face meetings are “recommended”.
Here is the current application of the Rooney Rules until the 2021 season:
- Teams must interview at least two outside ethnic minority candidates for the head coach position, including at least one face-to-face interview.
- Teams must interview at least two outside ethnic minority candidates for all coordinator positions.
- Teams must interview at least two outside ethnic minority candidates for GM/football executive roles.
THAN: Brian Flores lawsuit: NFL responds to racism complaint, defends recruiting practices
Why was the Rooney Rule introduced?
The Rooney Rule was introduced in response to the 2002 games of former Buccaneers coach Tony Dungy and Vikings coach Dennis Green following the 2001 season. Those coaches have largely been successful in their respective assignments. their response, although their termination after seasons of relative sub-standard left only one Black coach in the league at the time (Herman Edwards, who coached the Jets from 2001-05). Dungy was immediately hired by the Colts for the 2002 season, and Green returned to coach the Cardinals in 2004.
Dungy had only one losing season in his six years at Tampa Bay – his first, when the team won 6-10 – and that was followed by three 10-win seasons over the next four years. Dungy has averaged 10 wins in his last three seasons, including a 9-7 record in his final year.
Green was even more successful than Dungy, never suffering a losing season until his final year in Minnesota, when he was fired with one game left in the season after a 5-10 year record. Vikings. He has never had a worse record than 8-8 before and missed three 1998-2000 seasons in which the team was 15-1, 10-6 and 11-5 respectively.
Their games also highlight a notable shortage of minority coaches in the NFL’s history: Fritz Pollard, Tom Flores, Art Shell, Ray Rhodes, Wayne Fontes, Dungy, Edwards and Green are among The only such coach before regulations were made. (Abe Gibron and Rich Kotite, both Arab-Americans, have also served as NFL head coaches; it should be noted that Arabs have been considered “white” by the federal government since 1943. ).
When does the Rooney rule come into effect?
The Rooney Rule officially took effect from the 2003 season, about a year after Dungy and Green started. At the time it was made, Dungy and Edwards were the only minority coaches in the NFL. The federation immediately fined the Lions $200,000 under the Rooney Rule after the team hired former 49ers coach Steve Mariucci. The Lions claim they tried to hire minority candidates, but they withdrew their names because they believed the hiring of Mariucci was inevitable.
Black coaches hired under the Rooney Rule
The Rooney Rule resulted in 17 referrals to other Black and minority candidates for head coach positions (not including interim positions) after implementation:
- Marvin Lewis (Bengals, 2003-18)
- Lovie Smith (Bears, 2004-12; Buccaneers, 2014-15)
- Romeo Crennel (Browns, 2005-08; Chiefs 2011-12)
- Mike Tomlin (Steelers, 2007-present)
- Mike Singletary (49ers, 2008-10)
- Jim Caldwell (Colts, 2009-11; Lions, 2014-17)
- Raheem Morris (Buccaneers 2009-11)
- Leslie Frazier (The Vikings, 2010-13)
- Ron Rivera (Panthers, 2011-19; WFT/Commanders (2020-present)
- Todd Bowles (Jets 2015-18)
- Hue Jackson (Raiders, 2011; Browns 2016-18)
- Anthony Lynn (Charger, 2017-20)
- Vance Joseph (Broncos, 2017-18)
- Steve Wilks (Cardinals, 2018)
- Brian Flores (Dolphins, 2019-21)
- David Culley (Texas, 2021)
- Robert Saleh (Jets, 2021-present)
THAN: Brian Flores’ lawsuit against NFL, Giants reveals awkward text messages with Bill Belichick
Criticisms of the Rooney Rule
Common criticisms of the rule say it’s not nearly enough to encourage the suggestion of Blacks and other minority candidates – just ensure they get interviews. So it would be easier for teams to hire white candidates while still adhering to the Rooney Rule, with no real change in demographics and league diversity.
One such example of this occurred in 2012, when no Black or minority candidates were recruited for the league’s eight head coach positions and seven general manager positions. A similar situation occurs in 2020, when five open head coach positions create a minority hire (Rivera, who previously coached the Panthers from 2011-19).
Another example that has proven to be part of the Flores lawsuit against the league and its teams, includes a exchange messages with Patriots coach Bill Belichick. The exchange showed Belichick – apparently believing he was speaking to Brian Daboll, the Bills coordinator – congratulating Flores on getting the job, three days before he was scheduled to interview with the Giants. . The exchange shows that the Giant has finished dealing with Daboll and is just doing a “fake interview” with Flores.
Successful minority coordinators also have difficulty securing head coach positions despite their success as coordinators. The most notable example of this is Bieniemy, whose offense – using the talents of Patrick Mahomes, Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce, among others – is one of the strongest in the NFL. The captain won the AFC championship for four consecutive seasons and only won the Super Bowl for the third year in a row.
What’s more, Black men occupy only 23 of the 96 offensive, defensive or special team coordinator positions – about 23.9% – creating a disparity in opportunity for say dispatchers. above to put their success in better positions. Specifically, the NFL has four Black offensive coordinators (12 percent); 11 black defensive coordinators (34 percent); and eight special group coordinators (25 percent).
Critics also argue that the rule does not prevent minority coaches from being fired faster than their white counterparts. Since the rule was introduced, only four such coaches have worked longer than four seasons before being fired: Lewis (Bengals, 2003-18); Smith (Bears, 2004-12); Tomlin (Steelers, 2007-present); and Rivera (Panthers, 2011-19).
Another criticism of the rule is that it simply doesn’t produce the right number of black and minority head coaches and executives. The NFL currently has six Black six general managers. After Flores and Culley’s post-2021 games, there’s only one black coach left in the league: Tomlin.
That’s one less black coach than when the Rooney Rule was implemented in 2003.
