The NFL on Monday reaffirmed its commitment to the Rooney Rule as a central part of its plan to increase the number of minority candidates interviewed for coaching and front office positions.
The league announced two enhancements to the Rooney Rule: First, women are now included in all coaching and front office interview requirements. Teams will not be forced to interview a woman for these vacancies, but if they do, she would count toward fulfilling the Rooney Rule requirement. Second, only interviews conducted in person will count toward the Rooney Rule requirement.
Both changes were approved by NFL ownership at their annual meeting in Palm Beach.
The question is if including women under the Rooney Rule for coaching vacancies could result in fewer racial minorities interviewing for those roles. For example, it is now possible that a team could fulfill the Rooney Rule requirement for a head coaching vacancy interviewing two white women and no Black men.
Steelers owner Art Rooney, the chairman of the NFL’s diversity committee, said the committee did consider this potential consequence, but said at this point, the pool of women likely interviewing for head coaching vacancies remains small.
“For that reason, we didn't see it as inhibiting the number of interviews by racial minorities at this point in time. Obviously, we can address that as time goes on,” Rooney said.
Other diversity initiatives approved by NFL owners on Monday include:
- A requirement for all 32 teams to hire a minority coach – either a racial minority or a woman – to serve as an offensive assistant working closely with the head coach, offensive coordinator and other offensive assistant coaches. Rooney said this initiative is meant to deepen the pool of minority candidates in the pipeline for jobs like quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator. This will be a full-time job, not an internship, and will be funded in part by a stipend from the league office.
- A pledge from league ownership to increase diversity among owners, particularly in bids submitted by individuals and groups looking to purchase a team. The statement from ownership read, in part, that “membership will regard it as a positive and meaningful factor if the group includes diverse individuals who would have a significant equity stake in and involvement with the club, including serving as the controlling owner of the club.” The league currently has no Black owners.
- The Denver Broncos are currently up for sale, and Rooney said there are minority individuals who will be part of bids to purchase that team.
- Creating an external diversity advisory committee, composed of DEI experts and attorneys, as well as former Texans general manager Rick Smith, to review the NFL’s diversity policies.
(Photo: Nic Antaya / Getty Images)
How much did Flores' suit influence these changes?
Lindsay Jones, senior NFL writer: I don't see much, if any, of a direct connection between the lawsuit Brian Flores filed against the league and several teams and these Rooney Rule enhancements. A key part of Flores' suit is his allegations that interviews that are designed for fulfill the Rooney Rule are, to use the words from his legal filing, "sham interviews." Tweaking the Rooney Rule requirements to include women doesn't seem to do anything to address Flores' concerns about the validity of the interview process.
