NFL owners approved new measures Tuesday aimed at improving diversity in coach and front-office hiring, but they stopped short of approving a resolution that would have rewarded minority hiring with draft-pick compensation.
NFL Network reported last week that the owners were considering a proposal that would have improved teams’ third-round draft picks by six or 10 spots if they hired a minority candidate for vacant GM or head coach openings, as well as other compensation for hiring minority candidates for such positions as quarterback coach. But on Tuesday’s conference call — which took the place of the league’s annual in-person May owners meeting — the resolutions involving draft-pick compensation were tabled, meaning no vote was taken and the proposals could be considered at a later date.
NFL rules stipulate that 24 of 32 teams must vote to approve a resolution in order for it to go into effect. The tabling of the draft-pick resolution indicates that it did not have enough support to pass at this time.
The owners did, however, approve several new measures they hope will improve what they acknowledge has become an unacceptable record of minority hiring in positions of team leadership.
Among them:
— Teams will now be required to interview at least two candidates from outside their organization for any vacant head coach job and at least one minority candidate from outside their organization for any vacant offensive, defensive or special teams coordinator job. Previously, the Rooney Rule had required teams to interview only one minority candidate for head coach and none for coordinator.
— The NFL changed its anti-tampering policy to relax the rules that have allowed teams to deny assistant coaches and executives the opportunity to interview for jobs with other organizations. The resolution approved Tuesday, according to the NFL, establishes a system “that prohibits a club from denying (1) an assistant coach the opportunity to interview with a new team for a bona fide Offensive Coordinator, Defensive Coordinator or Special Teams Coordinator position and (2) a non-high-level/non-secondary football executive from interviewing for a bona fide Assistant General Manager position.” It requires every team to submit an organizational flow chart with descriptions of each coach’s specific responsibilities and stipulates that any dispute over the definition of “bona fide” in these cases will be resolved by the commissioner.
— The Rooney Rule is expanded to apply to a number of executive positions. Teams and the league office are now required to interview “minorities and/or female applicants” for positions such as team president and “senior executives in communications, finance, human resources, legal, football operations, sales, marketing, sponsorship, information technology and security positions.”
— Each of the 32 NFL teams will establish a minority coaching fellowship program. The coaching fellowships are to be full-time positions, either one or two years in length, to “provide NFL Legends, minority and female participants with hands-on training in NFL coaching.” The idea is to establish a larger pool of qualified candidates in the pipeline from which head-coach candidates are ultimately drawn.
Currently, the NFL has four minority head coaches and two minority general managers. Brian Flores of the Dolphins was the only minority candidate among the eight head coaches hired following the 2018 season. Washington’s Ron Rivera, who’d been fired a couple of months earlier by the Carolina Panthers, was the only minority candidate among the five new head coaches hired this offseason. The NFL’s workplace diversity committee, according to a source, decided this offseason that it needed to propose “something bold” to address the ongoing issue, hence the now-tabled proposal to award draft picks as incentive for minority hiring. The league hopes the changes instituted Tuesday lead to longer-term solutions.
“We believe these new policies demonstrate the NFL Owners’ commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion in the NFL,” Steelers owner and committee chairman Art Rooney II said in the league’s news release. “The development of young coaches and young executives is a key to our future. These steps will assure coaching and football personnel are afforded a fair and equitable opportunity to advance throughout our football operations.”
