The agent for Steelers defensive coordinator Teryl Austin says his client sat for a sham interview with the Lions when they were looking for a head coach in 2018.
In an interview with the Associated Press, agent Eric Metz said Lions general manager Bob Quinn already made a decision to hire Matt Patricia when the interview took place. Austin had been the Lions' defensive coordinator for four seasons.
"Bob Quinn knew he was hiring Matt Patricia and used Teryl to comply with the Rooney Rule," Metz said. "Didn't work out well for the Lions. Never should've fired Jim Caldwell."
Ain't that the truth. The Lions went 36-28 under Caldwell and made the playoffs twice. Patricia followed up Caldwell's act with a 13-29 showing in just under three seasons, once again sending Detroit to the bottom of the NFL.
Former Dolphins coach Brian Flores is suing the NFL and its teams for allegedly racist practices. One of Flores' complaints is that he participated in a sham interview last month with the Giants, who hired Brian Daboll one day later.
The suit also says Broncos executives John Elway and Joe Ellis showed up an hour late to his interview in 2019 and were "visibly disheveled."
Austin, who's been Pittsburgh's defensive coordinator since 2019, told the AP he knew he was fighting an "uphill battle" when he interviewed with the Lions.
Hue Jackson, former head coach of the Browns, also alleges mistreatment. He says Browns owner Jimmy Haslam incentivized losing during his tenure (Cleveland went 3-36 under him).
Flores also claims Dolphins owner Stephen Ross offered him $100,000 per loss to tank in 2019.
Austin is the latest Black to cite alleged examples of discrimination. In many ways, the Lions' firing of Caldwell, and their subsequent, serves as one of the biggest examples of the league's apparent double-standard.
