The Rooney Rule is a National Football League policy that requires league teams to interview ethnic-minority candidates for head coaching and senior football operation jobs. However, team executives have found simple ways around it, which has the National Football League tied up in a lawsuit involving Brian Flores and several other coaches.
Ray Anderson, who’s the Athletic Director at Arizona State and a former Falcons executive who helped create the rule, thinks a major change should be made in regards to the name of the rule.
“I think they should take the Rooney name off the rule that now has no teeth,” Anderson said via Kyle Odegard of compare.bet.
“It’s an embarrassment. Mr. Dan Rooney was a real advocate and really meant to have change. I think it does a disservice to Mr. Rooney and the family. I would love to see them make change that is positive but don’t utilize Mr. Rooney’s name anymore because now when you think of the Rooney Rule, very frankly, it’s a negative perception. I think that’s offensive, personally. Mr. Rooney deserves much more.”
In the meantime, the NFL has announced they are requiring all of its teams to hire a minority or female offensive assistant coach for the 2022 season. The league also said its Rooney Rule will expand to provide more opportunities for women to secure front office roles.
Back in February, Brian Flores, the former head coach of the Miami Dolphins, filed a lawsuit against the NFL and three of its teams for racial discrimination. The NFL and the three teams have denied the allegations.
Flores has since been hired by the Pittsburgh Steelers.
