A few comments on the comments:
1. Bill Bellichick's credentials on race are unquestioned for anyone who bothers to take more than a minute to look it up. I give you Jim Brown's personal endorsement as just one example.
“He has been face to face with my gangsters in L.A. and in Cleveland,” Brown said. “Belichick is the only person that you would know who has been in my home with these guys. He has been in the hotel room in Cleveland with them; not only that, he’s been to the graduation; not only that, he got us our first contract in Rhode Island. And not only that, when he fined his players one year, he gave all the fine money to the foundation.” ..,, and thanks to loosebearing for posting the link to the entire NYT's article on page one of this thread.
2. I have to admit I was a bit surprised when I saw the stats because 13% does seem low in a league when 7o% of the players are minorities. However when someone posted a list of the minority percentages in each year of BB's tenure, I was relieved that in most years the percentage was closer to 3o% than 2o%, topping out at 39%.
3. Clearly BB has a different standard than most NFL HC's for picking assistants. The lack in some years, or near lack of assistant coaches with NFL playing experience stands out to me. IIRC only Ventrone played in the NFL on the current staff, and he's has a very minor role....currently.
4. This story is really a good example of click bait.
5. I really disagree strongly with DI who thinks a call for diversity is "irrelevant". When I grew up in the 5o's, 6o's and 70's (yes I am really THAT old), there was very little "diversity" in the country. Not in media, TV, movies, or life.
I'm happy that today a great deal has changed for the better over the last 35 years, though events of the last few weeks show us that we still have work to do. However that shouldn't negate what has been accomplished over that time. In my mind giving minorities a leg up in some hiring practices and at colleges was a necessary evil that I'd like to think could be phased out over the next decade.
In an ideal world, I'd like to think that DI was right, however we don't live in an ideal world, just a world we are struggling to make "more ideal" than the previous one.
6. I repeat, this is a non-story. BB's success rate of hiring coaches who actually make players better is clearly on record. That's what he does. He is constantly looking for coaches who can learn his system and for them to move up the coaching ladder, they have to have a PROVEN record of making players better. Otherwise they simply don't get to stay.
Also it should be noted that more and more BB has been grooming his staff from within and very few experienced NFL coaches come to the Pats and those that do don't seem to last long. For the most part BB is bringing guys in at the entry level and the best get to move up.
