The NFL’s team owners are meeting in Minneapolis this week, with several items on the docket that could impact the upcoming season of play.
But one group of attendees is looking past issues like Thursday night flexing and emergency third quarterbacks to what they hope will be a better and more inclusive future for those in the coaching ranks of the game.
Cowboys secondary coach and defensive passing game coordinator Joe Whitt Jr. is among the 40 assistants from around the league who are participating in the Coach Accelerator program, an event designed to increase the exposure of promising assistant coaches- especially those of color- to the owners who will be interviewing new coaching candidates at some point.
Minority representation among NFL head coaches continues to be a problem in a league whose ranks are predominantly of color. Only three teams- the Steelers (Mike Tomlin), Texans (DeMeco Ryans), and Buccaneers (Todd Bowles)- have Black head coaches. Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel is biracial, Commanders coach Ron Rivera is Latino, and Jets coach Robert Saleh is Lebanese.
That’s six out of 32.
But Whitt says it took even him a while to fully understand the struggle for coaches of color.
“I think back when I first entered the league in 2007,” Whitt said Monday in an interview on NFL Network. “I was able to work with a guy by the name of Emmitt Thomas and [I remember] how positive he was in developing and growing a lot of us younger Black coaches. At the same time, there were a number of coaches that were older that were just upset. And I didn’t understand, just coming from college, why were they so upset? Now, this being Year 17 for me, I can sort of feel the angst of what they had, not having some of the opportunities.”
Whitt, 44, had stints on staff in Atlanta, Green Bay, and Cleveland before coming to Dallas in 2021. After his first season with the Cowboys, he received requests from several teams to interview for a defensive coordinator position. He has remained in Dallas, though, and is thought to be someone the team might turn to in that role if current DC Dan Quinn is hired away.
It would be one big step closer to a head coaching possibility.
But Whitt knows that he is just one of a much larger group of qualified coaches in the same boat: perennially on the outside looking in when the same old familiar names are recycled by teams every hiring period.
“There’s a room full of men in there that are very talented, very positive, and we just want the same opportunity that our counterparts are getting,” Whitt continued. “This gives us the ability to get around the owners, and for the owners to get comfortable with us- not just necessarily on the field but have a Sunday breakfast with them.”
The Accelerator has a heavy networking component, with both formal and informal opportunities for assistants to develop connections and make a lasting impression on owners.
Whitt says even if it’s one of his peers- and not him- who gets the next head coaching gig, more needs to be done to increase the number of NFL head coaches of color.
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But in a sport that continues to emphasize offense and top-tier quarterback play, there’s a perception that a defensive-minded assistant like Whitt has twice as steep a hill to climb in order to be taken seriously for a head coaching job.
Whitt, however, thinks the job of a defensive coach makes him even better suited to run the whole program.
“The guys that coach the quarterback, they coach the most cerebral guy in the room. It’s easy to coach that guy,” Whitt offered. “On the defensive side, we coach challenging guys at some point. We have a way of touching everybody across the room. Whoever’s coaching that quarterback? He’s going to be there on time, he’s going to be there early. That’s easy. But when you have to handle the whole team and whole room, that’s a different dynamic, and I think we have an advantage that the owners or the powers that be need to understand. We are leaders of men, not leaders of one.”
Whitt hopes his participation in this year’s Coach Accelerator gives him a better chance to be a leader of men at some point down the road.
This is Whitt’s second year in the Accelerator program. Cowboys defensive line coach Aden Durde is also taking part; this is his first time.
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