It seems like Roger Goodell and the NFL kept their word in response to Brian Flores' lawsuit.
At the owner's meeting on Monday, the league made a few major adjustments to the Rooney Rule, requiring all 32 franchises to hire at least "one woman or ethnic/racial minority" as an offensive assistant coach beginning this season. This is a part of the league's ongoing efforts to diversify amongst the coaching ranks.
In that role, the candidate who is selected will receive a one-year contract and work closely with the head coach and offensive staff to gain valuable experience.
The reason why the NFL wants teams to hire minorities for an offensive position is in large part due to the league's track record of hiring those coaches, who are by far the most sought-after amongst teams. According to Steelers owner Art Rooney II, the pipeline for minorities on that side of the ball is severely lacking.
“We recognize we have seen progress on some fronts,” said Rooney, chairman of the league’s Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Committee, “but we still have a way to go on other fronts.” "We clearly have a trend where coaches are coming from the offensive side of the ball in recent years, and we clearly do not have as many minorities in the offensive coordinator [job]."
For teams that already have a woman or ethnic/racial minority in an offensive coaching position, they will be in compliance with the new rule according to NFL chief administrative officer Dasha Smith. The newest update to the Rooney Rule marks the first hiring mandate since its implementation back in 2003.
The rule of course is named after Rooney's father, the late Art Sr. in an effort to promote diversity in the coaches and front office personnel by requiring teams to interview at least two minority candidates for head coaching and front-office positions.
One of the biggest changes in the rule includes the addition of women, who can now satisfy the requirement to interview two external minorities for top positions. Rooney said increasing the number of women candidates in the coaching pool is something the league hopes to change in the coming years.
"The truth of the matter is that as of today, at least, there aren't many women in the pool in terms of head coach," Rooney said. "We hope that is going to change over the years, but for that reason, we didn't see it as inhibiting the number of interviews for racial minorities at this point in time. Obviously, we can address that as time goes on, but for now, we didn't see that as an issue."
"Really, we are looking at probably the early stages of women entering the coaching ranks, so we may be a little ways away before that becomes a problem."
Two of the other major changes include the encouragement of minority ownership groups, and the addition of the "Diversity Advisory Committee," which will be a committee made up of people outside the league. The six members are former Texans GM Rick Smith. It also includes former New Jersey attorney general Peter Harvey and Pamela Carlton, the founder and president of Springboard.
According to Rooney, there are several groups that are interested in buying the Denver Broncos and have minority participation.
Although there is still a lot of work to be done, the NFL has seen major growth in its efforts to diversify. There are currently 15 minority defensive coordinators, a league record, and in total, minorities make up 39% of the leagues' coaches, which is up from 35% in 2021. There are also a league-record 12 women on coaching staffs.
Related
Follow Jasper Jones on Twitter: @jonesj2342
LISTEN on the Audacy App
Sign Up and Follow Audacy Sports
Facebook | Twitter | Instagram