NEWSLETTER
One day after pushing forward an expanded Rooney Rule, the NFL’s owners have reportedly tabled a proposal that would have incentivized hiring minority head coaches and general managers.
News from NFL Network insider Jim Trotter:
BREAKING: NFL owners have tabled the resolution to incentivize the hiring of minority coaches and general managers, per source.
— Jim Trotter (@JimTrotter_NFL) May 19, 2020
And here’s the language used by the NFL announcing its changes in its attempt to increase diversity:
Important new steps by the #NFL to increase diversity pic.twitter.com/aV2ihKxRGQ
— Brian McCarthy (@NFLprguy) May 19, 2020
Late last week, we discussed the proposal when it was first floated publicly, The concept presents the idea of teams receiving better draft picks for hiring minority head coaches and general managers.
The details looked something like this:
• Teams hiring a minority head coach would move six spots from its third-round selection in the draft before said coach’s second season with the team.
• Teams hiring a minority as its top football executive (in many cases, known as the general manager) would move up 10 spots.
• Teams that hire minority candidates for both would have their draft position moved up 16 spots.
At its core, I can understand why league owners pushed to make this happen. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has long indicated the league’s need to be more diverse, particularly in the most coveted positions around the league — such as head coach and general manager. Discussing changes is good. Proposing changes is better. But enacting real change that is well thought out and ultimately executed should be the league’s end game. So in this vein, (hopefully) tabling the proposal makes sense. Go back to the drawing board, fix it, make it better, come back when it’s nails.
I mean, when the first black coach to win a Super Bowl immediately sees potential “unintended consequences” of this type of expansion, not putting the proposal to vote now in order to get it right is probably the right thing to do.
As for something that did get approval from owners, this feels like a step in the right direction:
This one is significant because it also prevents teams from blocking personnel people from interviewing for the ASSISTANT general manager position, as well.
— Jim Trotter (@JimTrotter_NFL) May 19, 2020
