cupofjoe1962

The Dolphins want to hire Harbaugh.....
Do they really need to do a manditory interview of a black coach before they can hire him?

At the end of the 2010 NFL season, there were 8 black head coaches.
Marvin Lewis, Cincinnati Bengals (eighth season).
Lovie Smith, Chicago Bears (seventh season).
Mike Tomlin, Pittsburgh Steelers (fourth season).
Mike Singletary, San Francisco 49ers (third season).
Jim Caldwell, Indianapolis Colts (second season).
Raheem Morris, Tampa Bay Buccaneers (second season).
Leslie Frazier, Minnesota Vikings (interim coach).
Eric Studesville, Denver Broncos (interim coach).

The last USA demographics I could find has the Black population
at 12.4 percent

If there were 8 black head coaches in the NFL at the end of the
season, then 25% of the head coaches were black, which is more
than double the 12.4% black population percentage.

If someone is going to spend close to a billion dollars on a football team,
I am sure they are going to hire the best coach they can find.

Nikolai

Singletary was fired and I'm not sure about Studesville's future.

As for the policy, I'm on the fence. I don't know enough about the organizational culture of the NFL to comment on why the league thought this policy was necessary.

__________________
We get what we deserve.

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“On a day when they could have had impact players David Terrell or Koren Robinson..they took Georgia defensive tackle Richard Seymour, who had 1 sacks last season in the pass-happy SEC and is too tall to play tackle at 6-6 and too slow to play defensive end. This genius move was followed by trading out of a spot where they could have gotten the last decent receiver in Robert Ferguson and settled for tackle Matt Light, who will not help any time soon.”

signbabybrady

The policy could use some work if it is really even needed.

In the instance the OP brings up I have no problem with the rule being in place that is why its in place. They want you to consider a minority. In the Dolphins case they havent even fired their last guy and they seemingly have already narrowed down their next guy and neither are a minority and aparently a minority was never considered.

The one that gets me is the Interim Head Coach. If you make a guy a Interim and he is good enough to become the head guy then that is a no brainer and kind of insulting to who you bring in to satisfy the rule. Sure a racist owner could use this as a loophole but they would look pretty bad if they did it several times in a row.

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resdubwhite

Given the Dolphins history over last years interview with Dez Bryant it would do them no harm to be broad minded enough to interview a minority candidate.

You never know. Some of their execs might actually have their perceptions quashed because of it.

strngplyr

I think the Rooney rule itself could be considered as racist. How many teams make up their mind on who they will hire, and interview a minority just because.

I'm sure there are alot of minority coaches who know they only reason they are even being glanced at isn't because of their ability as a coach, but because a rule says they have to be talked to. Personally, if i was a minority coach that would probably make me feel worse than if i was ignored completely.

SirApropos

No to pick nits but it's not just Black Coaches. The Panthers have asked for permission to speak to Ron Rivera the D Coord of San Diego about their Head Coach opening and he would satisfy the Rooney Rule because he is Hispanic.

Also Leslie Frazier has had the interim tag removed and is now the Head Coach of the Vikings.

ahmed

I agree; however, if one of the above coaches was hired because or in part because of this rule (i.e. gave them a chance to talk to an owner and then convinced them) then it's a good rule.

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“When you hang with a bunch of 300-pound linemen, you tend to find the places that are the greasiest and serve the most food.” Brady.

BrainTrust66

A few thoughts:

1. My guess is that the demographic that they are looking for is more in line with the black population of the league, not the population in general (and I don't know what that is, but I'm guessing more than 25%?)
   
2. I think the rule did this in the first place because of the perception, right or wrong, that qualified black coaches weren't getting a fair shake. What I like about that is that it does give owners pause to stop using the head coach Recyclo-Matic that keeps giving the head job to guys like Norv Turner.
   
3. I would like to see the rule amended such that if an interim coach is promoted that they don't need to follow this rule. As one other poster said, if a racist owner was doing this just to get around the system people would figure it out.

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"The true competitors, though, are the ones who always play to win."
- Thomas Edward Patrick Brady Jr.

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- George Costanza

blackglass3

I agree with this. THese coaches are more gossiping hens than the media. They hear who the owners want, and have to see their visit is just a sham. This rule was needed back in the 90's, not now.

It annoys me that it doesn't go both ways, also. Leslie Frazier and Jason Garrett are both interim coaches. Frazier can just get hired, but Garrett can't. That is BS.

Deus Irae

It's always time to dump a rule that should never have been there in the first place.

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"The object in life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane."
- Marcus Aurelius