The NFL’s diversity initiatives have been a hot topic in recent years. While some roles are seeing some growth in diverse hires, others are still lacking.
One of those success stories is Cleveland Browns general manager and executive vice president of football operations Andrew Berry.
Berry joined 92.3 The Fan’s Daryl Ruiter on Audacy’s original podcast “It’s Always Gameday In Cleveland” and talked about diversity in the NFL and what the league can do to improve it moving forward.
“I think it’s easy for people to point out that ‘Hey, are we exactly where we want to be at as a league?’ And the answer is no,” Berry said (19:25 in player above). “But I actually would commend the NFL for the progress that we’ve made even since I’ve been in this league.
“I think oftentimes it’s really more about exposure and overcoming our biases. I think you could probably ask every owner, they would want to hire individuals that they think can ultimately deliver a sustainable winner. I think what the league has done with the enhancements with the Rooney Rule, the enhancement with the diversity programs, the accelerator programs, I think it has been excellent.”
Berry started his football executive career way back in 2009 as an assistant scout for the Indianapolis Colts. He made his way up the ladder as their pro scouting coordinator until 2016 when he joined the Browns as the vice president of player personnel.
After a brief stop in Philadelphia as the Eagles vice president of football operations in 2019, Berry returned to Cleveland and was hired in his current role in 2020. He was the youngest GM in NFL history at just 32 years old.
“I think you are seeing the impact, particularly at the general manager and club president levels. There has been an influx of diverse hires in those roles over the past three offseasons,” Berry continued. “I still think there’s work to do on the coaching front, quite candidly, but I don’t think it’s because of a lack of effort.
“I think that if we can get a demographically diverse set of leaders, that’s maybe the first step. But I also think there’s work to be done in terms of diversity of thought, diversity of backgrounds in some of these decision-making seats and I think that only enhances the pool of candidates that – whether you’re an owner or team president – expands your mind to in terms of what a successful general manager can look like.”
One of the things that Berry is most proud of is the development of executives within the organization.
Berry hired Kwesi Adofo-Mensah as the Browns vice president of football operations in 2020. Last offseason, he joined the Vikings as their new general manager.
“That’s actually one of the most rewarding aspects of the job to think about where he came in with our organization and what he’s done already in a very short time in Minnesota,” he said. “To see him have success is incredibly rewarding,”
Berry specifically mentioned assistant general managers Catherine Raiche and Glenn Cook as two names that could follow in Adofo-Mensah’s footsteps.
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