I had this same idea for a post nearly 3 years ago. I took a more calculated approach towards it and decided to wait and find a good opportunity, like I'll explain shortly, to break it out. Or I've been incredibly lazy and I'm fortunate that a situation like this arose for me to reprise it. The correct answer was the latter, but the relevance and overall effect will do more good now than it would have in 2008. In 2003 the N.F.L. came up with The Rooney Rule to combat the lack of minority Head Coaches. The rule states that every time a franchise wants to hire a new Head Coach they have to at least interview one minority candidate before filling the position. The rule is aptly named after Pittsburgh Steeler owner Art Rooney who was chairmen of the leagues diversity committee when the rule was enacted. The rule is widely affiliated in NFL circles as a token attempt to alleviate the glaring omission of Black Head Coaches, and nothing more than the Leagues example of Affirmative Action. Just like AA, the RR opponents refer to these measures as "tokenistic" and counter productive. When a culture is completely oblivious to the inequities of their surroundings then all I can say is, " hooray for tokenism ".
The timing for this post is that soon we're going to hear some debates about why it's a double standard that the Dallas Cowboys were not allowed to hire interim Head Coach Jason Garrett as their permanent HC until they completely abided by the RR. While in Minnesota, the RR doesn't apply to the Vikings if they desire to hire their interim HC Leslie Frazier to their HC position, right now. So lets recap, the Cowboys have to wait until the end of the season and interview minority coaches for a position that is currently held by the guy they want to hire in the 1st place. All because Garrett is white and Frazier is black. Well, to quote the immortal words of former Cardinal great, Rod Tidwell," Well boo f*ckin who." If it takes such a token approach to help combat the biggest inequity in sports, then so be it. It's gotten to the point of an "I don't care how we get there, as long as we get there" philosophy on this subject. Look, the N.F.L is a company that has 65% black workforce, yet only 18% of that workforce is in charge. I haven't done the numbers but I assume that the percentage of Latino GM's of McDonald's across this country is much higher than 18%. That assumption is equally as racist as the assumption that 7 black coaches and 5 GMs's is an acceptable number for an industry that relies so heavily on black workers. So, I don't care that we have to go through such a trivial process that can seem comical at times. Desperate times sometimes demand deliberate and consistent measures to rectify itself. So once again " Hooray for tokenism ".
Does the system work? Does tokenism actually get black coaches jobs? Out of the 7 black HC's currently in the N.F.L. only 2 were a product of the RR. Marvin Lewis and Lovie Smith were gonna be coaches regardless of the RR or not. Jim Caldwell was a hand picked replacement by Tony Dungy. Mike Singletary and Leslie Frazier are mid-season coaching replacements. Pittsburgh Steeler HC, Mike Tomlin, and Tampa Bay Buc HC, Raheem Morris, are the only 2 direct decedents of the rule. Both were success stories and both are examples that the system can actually work. While Morris is probably more of an example of the RR, I'm gonna concentrate on Tomlin's plight to be a HC. In 2007, Steeler legend and longtime HC, Bill Cowher, retired from the NFL. Other longtime Steeler assistant coaches Ken Whisenhunt and Russ Grimm were widely considered the frontrunners for the vacant job. Pittsburgh shocked everyone by following the system that they invented and hired the then 33 year old Tomlin. The decision surprised everyone, but in hindsight it probably shouldn't have. The similarities between Tomlin and Cohwer are much more apparent than Whisenhunt and Grimm are. They were both defensive minded young assistant coaches (Cowher was 33 when hired by the Steelers) and both were relatively unheralded. Both have studied under Hall Of Fame coaches in Tony Dungy and Chuck Knoll. Both caught the sporting world off guard when they were announced as the Steelers HC. The paths of Cowher and Tomlin were almost identical, except its not socially applicable here because Cowher is white and Tomlin is black. Matter of fact, it was widely rumored that the Steelers solely hired Tomlin to validate the rule they helped create. Basically saying that the Steelers risked their proud and rich organizational history, just to prove a point. I guess that's easier for people to believe than a "token" rule could work when applicated in the proper way. Even if the rumor was true, I would still say "hooray for tokenism."
There have been many casualties during this 7 year long war since the RRule has been around. Countless black coaches have interviewed for HC jobs that they knew they were not going to get simply to appease the RR. Which in turn, gained them a reputation of being a token interview tool and opened themselves up to criticism about their interviewing skills during the process. A timeless black coach rumor concerning this subject usually states, that "he just doesn't interview well." Greg Blache, Perry Fewell, Maurice Carthon, Ron Meeks, Emmitt Thomas, etc. are all examples of black coaches that were negatively affected by the RR. I "Rod Tidwell" them as well. They should take solice in the fact that they were all necessary pawns, in a necessary war, that has to be fought. They were treated like marked cattle and paraded around the NFL circles as gestures of appeasement for a ridiculous rule. As time has gone by there have been black coaches that have refused interviews because of the token nature of there perspective inquiries. I urge all black coaches not to take this approach. I truly feel bad for the coaches who I mentioned above and for every coach that has been negatively affected by this rule, white or black. I completely understand that they're real people and have real families, but this subject is way too important to worry about a few casualties of war. The global good concerning this issue heavily outweighs the fundamental bad things that sometimes occur. Sorry for the lost dreams and for the missed opportunities but, "hooray for tokenism."
In 2003, the Detroit Lions were heavily fined by the NFL for not abiding by the, then new, RR by hiring Steve Marriuci without interviewing any minority candidates. Mariucci was on Detroit's radar as soon as he parted ways with the S.F. 49ers. Matter of fact, the Lions fired then coach, Marty Morningwig, as soon as Mariucci became available. Meanwhile, in San Francisco, the Niners were rumored to be leaning towards then Chicago Bears Defensive Coordinator, Greg Blache, to be their next HC. 2 other minority candidates were in contention and the Niners were showered with compliments for their handling of the new rule. Especially in light of the circumvision tactics of the Lions just months before. The Niners ended up hiring Oregon State HC, Dennis Erickson. Erickson was a complete shock to everyone because there was no known meeting between the 2 parties and he was not on anybody's list of candidates. San Francisco leaked out every interview they had with minority coaches and ultimately hired a white coach who no one even knew that they had interviewed. So, the Lions getting fined for hiring the guy they wanted all along and the Niners concealing who they really wanted along, are both perfect examples of tokenism when discussing this subject. While I fully understand the intent of both organizations, I still contend that the Lions deserved a fine, and the Niners, even though they handled it in a shady manner, still deserved a pass. This is simply because the Niners followed the process and the Lions did not. All I care about concerning this rule is that BC's are put in a proper position to achieve they're dreams of being an NFL HC. That they get a chance to be in a 1 on 1 environment with teams that need a HC. They need to have the opportunity to "wow" their perspective teams and maybe change a few misconceptions, and stereotypes, on their way. Basically, the RR is the only chance BC's have at getting a consistent shot at becoming a HC. Who knows, maybe a token BC interview could have included a very young Mike Tomlin for the Lions. You can't tell me that even Detroit could ignore Tomlins leadership qualities or his flawless public speaking skills. Maybe ex - Lion GM, Matt Millen, would still have his job to this day if he had abided by this rule. We'll never know, because he didn't and just like my old baseball coach used to say, "You can't steal 2nd if you can't get on 1st base ". Well, you can't get a job if you don't get the people in charge of hiring to talk with you either. So, "hooray for tokenism."
Do we really want our team to be ran by a black guy? Is he gonna act too black, publicly? What do we have in common? What will we talk about? What will my other rich friends say? These are all questions that the 32 owners in the NFL have to ask themselves before they hire a BHC. Please don't be naive to the notion that NFL owners have these same trepidations I speak of. Comfortability for some of them is just as important as wins and losses. The trickle down effect caused by that way of thinking is a major reason why we have so few BHC's. The owner hires a GM he's comfortable with, then that GM hires a HC he's comfortable with, and that HC hires assistant coaches he's comfortable with. All the while, BC's are caught in the proverbial middle. The RR is a tool that should be used especially for this kind of situation. It guarantees that you have to interview BC's during the hiring process, which in turn, should help break down barriers, clear up some stereotypes, and ease some fears that people have about black people in general. What I don't understand though, is why doesn't the comfortability between the HC and the players on the field matter just as much? By the rational I mentioned before, shouldn't a majority of the players on each team automatically be more comfortable with a BHC? Are we watching the Owners and GM's playing each Sunday? Comfortability with someone is usually attained by proper verbal communication with 2 intelligent people that share common interests. So, since Football is an obvious common denominator pertaining to this subject, then it is plausible that 2 men can achieve comfortability in a reasonably short amount of time. Forcing owners to sit down with BC's and hear them verbalize their thoughts and views might help comfortability, or might not accomplish anything at all. But without the RR we have no shot.
Just understand that there has only been 2 organizations that have hired a BHC more than once, and those teams were the Indianapolis Colts and Oakland Raiders (Raiders hired Art Shell twice). There has only been 3 ex- BHC's that have ever received another chance to be a HC again. There are 5 current rehire HC's in the NFL and none of them are black. In the last 3 years we've seen Eric Mangini, Chan Gailey, Norv Turner, Pete Carroll, and Mike Shanahan all receive another chance at Head Coaching. Thats right, Chan Gailey. I refuse to get in the debate about whether BHC's have a shorter rope than white coaches when it comes to coaching duration. But, there is no disputing that BHC's hold the very end of the rope when it comes to the rehire process. Tony Dungy, Herm Edwards, and Dennis Green are the only BHC rehires in history and they were a combined 190-147 with 23 playoff appearances before their rehire. Take away Shanahan, and the other 4 current rehires I mentioned above are a combined 132-152, and have only 8 total playoff appearances. Hell, add Shanahans 13 playoff appearances and you still don't get to the 23 that only 3 BHC rehires have. How does that make any sense? It most certainly doesn't, but it's kind of a skewed argument anyways because there have only been 15 BHC's in N.F.L. history. So, there's not that many too rehire to begin with. The recently fired BHC, Mike Singletary, will probably not get further than Defensive Coordinator again. Charlie Weiss will probably get a head coaching job before Romeo Cromell will receive another shot at it. This is the way it goes for BHC's in the NFL and that's how it's gonna be for the foreseeable future. It took Shell almost 15 years to get another job and it happened to be with the team that originally hired him. Shell was fired the same year he took the Raiders to the AFC Championship and it still took him 15 years to get another job. As for the Colts and Raiders being the only teams to hire multiple BHC's (even though the Raiders really didn't), that's also not going to change anytime soon, either. It almost seems as if the teams that have hired a BHC in the past have already done there League civil duty and don't feel obligated to do it again anytime soon. At the end of the season, there will be potentially 8-10 coaching vacancies. I contend that there will be no BHC rehires and there won't be a 3rd team to hire multiple BHC's when the 2011 season starts. I'm tired of saying it, but I think you know what I wanna say.
It would be easy to label me a Black militant that just can't wait to find a hot button issue like this to rant and rave about. To be honest, I wish the RR didn't exist and a team like the Dallas Cowboys could hire who they want to, whenever they want to. It's hard for me to tell a man like, Jerry Jones, that he can't make an immediate decision concerning a team that he has spent a lot of money to obtain, and maintain, for over 20 years. I wish that the success of Mike Tomlin and Raheem Morris would be enough to encourage other owners to follow suit. I also wish that Leslie Frazier and Perry Fewell would've already become HC's, which would make me have so much less disdain for this process as a whole. It took the NFL till 1989 to hire the 1st BHC (Shell). It was 1966 for the NBA and 1975 for the MLB. 14 years later than Baseball for god sakes?! We're at an all-time high with the 7 we've got and I'm still completely fed up with this subject. If this post was about College Football and their coaching inequities it would be about 5000 words and a lot less censored. This subject is the most despicable aspect of sports. When it comes to sports, "Angry Black Man," only comes out when it pertains to the black stereotype that "we are inherently too stupid to accomplish important tasks" (such as black QB's can't win a Superbowl). My anger has now morphed into a huge chip on my shoulder. Like with any chip, I now have a sense of entitlement that won't be satisfied with the mere 18% we have now. I'll settle with the 40% range, but I spit on 18%. We need more black GM's, way more BHC's, and more black men in power in general in the NFL. I would love to live in a world without the need for the Rooney Rule. I can honestly say that I never concentrate on the color of the skin when I hear an announcement of an NBA coaching hire. I just get to debate if that coach was the right choice or not. I don't have to dissect every step of the hiring process in the NBA. I've watched sports for 27 years and I have never had to worry about the inequities concerning the NBA. So, I've already lived in such a world and I happen to think it's awesome. Until we get to that level in the NFL, I'll have to put my black glove on. Then I'm gonna stand up on my podium, with my right arm raised, and scream "hooray for tokenism!"
I am a 34-year old blogger who believes that he is the best sports blog writer on the web. My site deals with content that most people do not talk about in the proper context. We have some how turned sports into more of a gossip based entertainment outlet instead of just concentrating on what goes on between the lines of the field, court, or ice. The information age we live in has skewed our judgment of the these people and the dehumanization of our modern day athletes has evolved to what is today. While I fully understand that I ultimately strive to be part of this hypocrisy, I hope that I already have and continue to distinguish myself as a qualified teacher to the ignorant part of the sports viewing society. I've been engulfed in sports since I was 5 years old and I believe i see it differently than most. I call myself the "John Nash" of sports and I truly believe in that persona, minus the subsequent schizophrenia. I consider myself a thinker and not a writer. You will understand that more when you read my material and figure out that I have the grammar of a 7 year old kid. I am talented though, I have 13 movie ideas and 10 TV series ideas. My mind is constantly going this way and my website is an perfect outlet for my ideas to come out before my head explodes. Anyways, I hope you enjoy my work and hope to hear your feedback. Thank you.
