Pittsburgh Steelers owner and team president Art Rooney II, in the wake of former Miami Dolphins coach Brian Flores filing a class-action lawsuit against the NFL that alleges discrimination in the interview-hiring process and in his dismissal from the AFC East franchise, issued a statement noting the lack of progress in hiring minority head coaches.
Steelers Art Rooney opens up about minority head coaches
The Steelers employ the only Black coach in the NFL: former Super Bowl winner Mike Tomlin.
There are two other minority head coaches: New York Jets coach Robert Saleh, who is of Lebanese descent, and Washington Commanders coach Ron Rivera, who is Hispanic. No minority head coaches have been hired this offseason. Furthermore, the Houston Texans fired head coach David Culley, who is Black.
Flores is a candidate for the Texans’ head coaching vacancy along with Philadelphia Eagles defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon and former NFL quarterback Josh McCown. Rooney did emphasize the hiring of three of seven general managers being minorities in addition to two assistant general managers.
“While I acknowledge that we have not seen progress in the ranks of Head Coaches, we have seen marked improvement in the hiring of women and minorities in other key leadership roles such as Coordinator positions, General Manager positions, and front office positions both in and out of football operations,” Rooney II said in a statement. “I believe this progress has been made as a result of the implementation of many of the enhanced policies that were recently adopted.”
Besides Tomlin, both of the Steelers’ internal general manager candidates are minorities. Vice president of football operations Omar Khan is Hispanic. Pro scouting coordinator Brandon Hunt is Black.
The implementation of the Rooney Rule
There is a requirement for NFL teams to interview two external minority candidates for head coach, general manager, and coordinator positions. An in-person interview with at least one external minority candidate for head coaching and general manager jobs is also required.
“Over the past several years, our Diversity Committee has recommended, and Ownership has adopted, a number of enhancements to the Rooney Rule as well as new policies designed to ensure that women and minorities are receiving full and fair consideration for coaching and front office positions,” Rooney II said.
“The Commissioner and League Executives, as well as the Diversity Committee, remain committed to working with all clubs, the Fritz Pollard Alliance, and others in making these efforts as effective as possible and building upon them to promote the desired impacts on hiring decisions in the League at all levels, including Head Coach positions.”
Brian Flores shines a light on the current situation in the NFL
Meanwhile, Flores has made unconfirmed accusations against the Denver Broncos and the New York Giants of conducting “sham interviews.”
Flores’ lawsuit includes screen-grabbed text messages from New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick, his former boss, that indicated he understood that the Giants intended to hire Buffalo Bills offensive coordinator Brian Daboll as the replacement for Joe Judge. In addition, Flores accuses Broncos executives John Elway and Joe Ellis of arriving late and drinking heavily the night before their meeting in Providence, R.I.
Teams deny Flores’ accusations
The Broncos have strongly denied those allegations, as have the NFL, Giants, and Dolphins, whose owner, Stephen Ross, was accused of incentivizing tanking.
“The allegations from Brian Flores directed toward the Denver Broncos in today’s court filing are blatantly false,” the Broncos said in a statement. “Our interview with Mr. Flores regarding our head coaching position began promptly at the scheduled time of 7:30 a.m. on Jan. 5, 2019, in a Providence, R.I., hotel. There were five Broncos executives present for the interview, which lasted approximately three-and-a-half hours — the fully allotted time — and concluded shortly before 11 a.m.
“Pages of detailed notes, analysis, and evaluations from our interview demonstrate the depth of our conversation and sincere interest in Mr. Flores as a head coaching candidate. Our process was thorough and fair to determine the most qualified candidate for our head coaching position. The Broncos will vigorously defend the integrity and values of our organization — and its employees — from such baseless and disparaging claims.”
The Dolphins, in a statement, denied Flores’ accusations.
“The implication that we acted in a manner inconsistent with the integrity of the game is incorrect,” the team said.
And the Giants stated, “We interviewed an impressive and diverse group of candidates. The fact of the matter is, Brian Flores was in the conversation to be our head coach until the eleventh hour. Ultimately, we hired the individual we felt was most qualified to be our next head coach.”