An NFL proposal that suggested a change to the Rooney Rule, incentivizing the hiring of minority coaching candidates with awarded draft picks has been met with criticism. While the proposal has since been tabled by NFL owners, the idea alone drew disapproval from all reaches of the league. Former Kansas City Chiefs head coach Herman Edwards shared his opinion on the topic and, as expected, didn’t mince his words.
Edwards coached the Chiefs from 2006-2008 after being traded to the team from the New York Jets. He is currently the head coach for Arizona State University. Edwards recently spoke to the New York Post about the proposed changes to the Rooney Rule.
“The first thing that came to my mind was, ‘What does that look like?'” said Edwards. “What does that even sound like? This is the National Football League. This is supposed to be the standard-bearer of how things are done. And to incentivize people for not only interviewing guys but hiring guys? No one wants that. I don’t blame any owner for hiring whoever he wants to hire. But to incentivize it, it just makes it awkward, man. You don’t want to get hired under that cloud. It’s bad for the league, it’s bad for the coach, it’s just bad for football.’’
The Rooney Rule policy requires NFL teams to interview ethnic-minority candidates for head coaching and senior football operation jobs. Since 2003 the system has been in place, fifteen head minority coaches have been hired, and the proposed update has become a hot topic of discussion this offseason.
“I understand what they were trying to do, but I’m glad they tabled it,’’ Edwards said. “That would have been a bad look.’’
The idea of rewarding a team that hires a minority candidate with a third-round pick has been met with a vast array of criticism. The sensitive topic will be a continued debate, especially if viable head-coaching candidates like Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy remain available in 2021.
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