The Rooney Rule is not working how the Nationat Football League thought it would. Are minorities getting interviews for head coaching positions? Sure. Are teams basically just doing so just to meet their quota? Absolutely.
The Rooney Rule went into effect in 2003 and requires teams to interview candidates of color for head coaching and senior operation vacancies.
A group of U.S. civil rights leaders are now calling for the NFL to replace the Rooney Rule — along with several other changes regarding recruiting and hiring procedures for positions throughout the League.
Leaders from the NAACP, National Urban League, National Coalition on Black Civic Participation, National Action Network and National African American Clergy Network are formally requesting a meeting with with the league’s commissioner, Roger Goodell, after former Miami Dolphins coach Brian Flores filed a class-action lawsuit against the NFL.
National Urban League President and CEO Marc H. Morial stated his case:
“However well-intentioned, the effect of the Rooney Rule has been for team decision-makers to regard interviews with candidates of color as an extraneous step, rather than an integral part of the hiring process,” Morial said, via ProFootballTalk. “The gravity of the situation is long past the crisis point.”
President Rev. Al Sharpton noted that NFL owners use the Rooney Rule as a disguise to make it seem like they want to interview diverse candidates.
Click on ‘Follow Us’ and get notified of the most viral NFL stories via Google! Follow Us
“The Rooney Rule has been proven to be something the owners used to deceptively appear to be seeking real diversity,” Sharpton said. “We must have firm targets and timetables.”
The NFL would soon issue a statement on the meeting:
“The leaders said they welcomed Goodell’s previous announcement of an independent review of the NFL’s diversity, equity and inclusion policies and initiatives,” the league said.
