In late December, the Miami Dolphins became the first team in NFL history to go from a seven game losing streak to a seven game winning streak in the same season.
Their remarkable turnaround was largely attributed to one man: Brian Flores, their 40-year-old Black head coach, who led the team to back-to-back winning seasons for the first time since 2003.
So, following the conclusion of the season, Flores was awarded with a handsome bonus and contract extension, right?
Wrong.
Instead, Flores was swiftly fired. In his place, the team hired a younger, less experienced replacement in Mike McDaniel.
Not only did Flores enjoy success running the Dolphins, he won four Super Bowls as an assistant coach for the New England Patriots. He is clearly qualified to head a team.
And Flores is far from the only Black head coach to have experienced this fate.
The NFL’s hiring and firing process falls on the blurred line that separates equality from the economy.
Soon after his firing, Flores interviewed for the New York Giants’ head coaching vacancy. But he alleges that this was a sham interview, since he had already received a text from Patriots head coach Bill Belichick before he interviewed that read, “Got it — I hear from Buffalo and NYG that you are their guy. Hope it works out if you want it to!”
That text was meant for a different Brian: Bills offensive coordinator Brian Daboll, who got the job instead.
Flores is now launching a class-action lawsuit against the NFL, the Denver Broncos, the Giants and the Dolphins on the basis of racial discrimination.
Flores is also accusing Miami owner Stephen Ross of offering him a $100,000 bonus for every game he lost.
In the lawsuit, Flores notes he isn’t the only Black person to have experienced potential racial discrimination and racist hiring practices.
Hue Jackson, the former head coach of the Cleveland Browns, has expressed full support for Flores. Similar to Flores, Jackson claimed in an interview with SportsCenter that the Browns gave him monetary incentives to lose in 2016 and 2017. Jackson asserts he was forced to act in accordance with Cleveland’s four-year scheme to throw games in order to earn cap space and draft picks, something he was not aware of until after being hired.
Both the Browns and the Dolphins deny these accusations.
Unfortunately, it’s the Rooney Rule — a policy intended to protect people of color — that is largely to blame for this mess. This rule typically shields teams from claims of racial bias as long as they interview one person of color.
In 2003, the NFL instituted the Rooney Rule — which was named for late-Steelers owner Dan Rooney, who pushed to implement diversity requirements in the NFL’s hiring practices — which requires teams to interview at least one minority candidate whenever a position becomes available.
But it hasn’t worked. In the last 19 years, teams have hired 122 head coaches. Only 17 have been people of color.
And until the Houston Texans hired Lovie Smith on Monday night, Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin was the sole Black head coach in the league.
During a storied 15-year coaching career, Tomlin has never had a losing season. But, he has been prematurely placed on the hot seat many times in the past. ESPN sports journalist and commentator Stephen A. Smith asserts this is due to his race, and he goes on to make a solid point: Mike Tomlin probably wouldn’t be a coach in the NFL if he wasn’t hired by the Rooney’s.
Coaches of color do not enjoy the same leniency and lucrativity as white coaches and are more likely to be fired despite a winning season.
The mistreatment of minority coaches in the hiring process is obvious, but it doesn’t have to be this way.
Fundamentally, the NFL has a responsibility to further encourage and incentivize the hiring of people of color. The Rooney Rule fails to hold teams accountable, and has been frankly ineffective at accomplishing its most basic goals.
A vast majority of NFL team owners, general managers and coaches are white. Between Super Bowl LIII (2019) and LIV (2020), teams hired 31 new head coaches, general managers, offensive coordinators and defensive coordinators, according to Tides. Twenty-four of those positions were granted to white men.
That’s even more stunning when you consider that in 2020, 69.4% of the league’s players were people of color.
By contrast, the NFL has only three — three — Black head coaches heading into 2022.
From January 1963 to February 2020, only 18 different African American men and four Latino men have served as head coaches. A mere five people of color stepped onto the field as head coaches to kick off the 2021 season. O
The 2022 hiring picture isn’t looking much different from years’ past. Two Black general managers were hired this offseason in the form of Ryan Poles and Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, making seven of the 32 people with decision-making power in the league people of color. Eight of nine head coaching vacancies were filled, only two of them by minorities. Every team owner asserts the importance of minority representation to the media, but their actions do not align with said belief. If it is so important to you, why don’t you hire them?
The NFL needs to be better.
Let them lead.
Kayla Sterner is an assistant sports editor and can be reached at kayla.sterner@ubspectrum.com
Kayla Sterner is an assistant sports editor at The Spectrum. She is studying communications with the hopes of being a sideline reporter. In her spare time, she can be found in the gym, watching football or vibing to Mac Miller. Kayla is on Twitter @kaylasterner.
