Minorities have long been underrepresented in the NFL head-coaching ranks, an issue former Dolphins coach Brian Flores brought significant attention to this offseason when he filed a class-action lawsuit, alleging racial discrimination in the league’s hiring practices. Joining in the suit were former Browns and Titans defensive coordinator Ray Horton and Steve Wilks, who the Panthers promoted to interim head coach after firing Matt Rhule earlier this week.
Bucs coach Todd Bowles was asked about Wilks’ promotion as well as his upcoming matchup with Steelers coach Mike Tomlin at Thursday’s press conference, where the 58-year-old gave an interesting response. Bowles expressed his admiration for both Tomlin and Wilks but downplayed the role that race plays in their relationship, insisting the color of his skin is secondary to the task at hand, which, as always, is to win football games.
“I have a very good relationship with Tomlin. We don’t look at what color we are when we coach against each other. I have a lot of very good white friends that coach in this league as well,” said Bowles, who replaced Bruce Arians this offseason, with Arians now holding an advisory role in the Bucs’ front office. “I don’t think it’s a big deal as far as us coaching against each other. I think it’s normal. Wilks got an opportunity to do a good job. Hopefully he does it. We coach ball. We don’t look at color.”
Many have noted a disparity in the number of black head coaches (five if you include Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel, who identifies as biracial) relative to the NFL’s majority black player population. Adopted in 2003, the Rooney Rule was meant to build a pipeline for coaches of color, but at times it’s had the opposite effect, with teams easily circumventing the league’s minimum requirements, granting minority candidates "sham" interviews with no intention of actually hiring them.
Black and minority coaches also tend to have a shorter leash than their white counterparts, a double standard Wilks experienced in Arizona, lasting just one year there compared to his replacement Kliff Kingsbury, who, despite his reputation as an underachiever (he couldn’t even win with Patrick Mahomes), was recently rewarded with a lucrative six-year extension. Bowles himself had to wait several years for his next chance after flaming out with the Jets in 2018, biding his time as an assistant before an opportunity finally presented itself this offseason. Still, if Bowles had his choice, he’d rather talk X’s and O’s, leaving the race conversation for someone else.
“When you say, ‘See you guys’ and ‘Look like them’ and ‘Grow up like them,’ meaning that we’re oddballs to begin with. I think the minute you stop making a big deal about it, everyone else will as well.”
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