Rooney Rule

Many people likely think that the closest attorney Johnnie Cochran came to football was when he represented O.J. Simpson during a certain trial in the early '90s. He also represented Jim Brown on occasion. Cochran impacted the NFL in a far more significant way about a decade ago. Cochran and attorney Cyrus Mehri co-authored the 2002 report "Black Coaches in the NFL: Superior Performance, Inferior Opportunities." This report led to the formation of the NFL owners' Workplace Diversity Committee. The purpose of this committee was to create a new plan to "level the playing field" in minority hiring for NFL head coaches. In 2003, this plan became the Rooney Rule. It was named after Pittsburgh Steelers owner Dan Rooney. Instead of being called the Cochran Rule or the Cochran/Mehri Rule it was named after Rooney because he was the chairman of the Workplace Diversity Committee. Not to take anything away from Dan Rooney but this rule to advance the hiring of minority coaches should have carried the name of another. If the Rooney Rule improves the representation of minorities in the NFL it doesn't really matter whose name is used.

The Rooney Rule states that a minority candidate must be interviewed for every open head coaching and front office position in the NFL. It's objective is grand in that it brings opportunities and attention to some that might not otherwise get those opportunities or attention. There were eight head coach openings at the end of this past season. All eight were filled with white coaches. All eight teams satisfied the Rooney Rule before they hired their white coaches. As such, many believe that the Rooney Rule fails. I wouldn't be so quick to make that judgement. If only one minority coach is hired as a result of the Rooney Rule it can be seen as a success. With only four of the 32 teams employing minority coaches there is a lot of room for improvement. I just don't think that there's a concerted effort on the part of the owners to keep minority numbers down. The owners are a competitive bunch. The only thing that really motivates an owner of an NFL team is winning. If a grizzly bear could bring a Super Bowl to an NFL owner that owner would hire a grizzly bear to coach his team. I think that the minority presence in the league will increase. There's too many excellent minority coaches out there to not got some attention and jobs. Jim Caldwell, Raheem Morris and Lovie Smith will get another shot. Hue Jackson will get his first "real" shot. Ray Horton, Mel Tucker, Jerry Gray, Alan Williams and others will start getting interview opportunities. There's a bunch of college coaches that could move up. Winning is all that matters in the NFL. If minority coaches can provide wins they'll get the jobs. Just like Johnnie Cochran envisioned.