The NFL has not made much progress in its effort to hire minorities into coaching and management positions.
NBC veteran columnist Peter King reports that the “league (is) at the end of its rope on the issue, frustrated by having only four minority head coaches and two minority GMs. In the 2019 NFL Racial and Gender Report Card, issued annually by the Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sports at the University of Central Florida, the NFL’s score was its lowest in 15 years.”
The Rooney Rule, which was instituted in 2003, requires teams to interview minority candidates for head coaching, general manager and other front office positions. It is under fire because of its apparent ineffectiveness and will be revisited this week at the league’s virtual meetings.
The New York Giants have never had a minority head coach although several have been considered. In fact, after the team parted ways with Tom Coughlin after the 2015 season, they were prepared to hire Hue Jackson who decided to take the Cleveland Browns job instead. The Giants then hired Ben McAdoo.
It wasn’t the Giants first foray into hiring a minority in a position of authority. In 2007, they promoted Jerry Reese to general manager. At the time, Reese was only the third African-American in NFL history to hold a GM title. Reese held the post until 2017, replaced in-season by Dave Gettleman, but not after he guided the Giants to two Super Bowl championships.
Before hiring Gettleman, the Giants’ GM search included many of the top football minds around the league, including Louis Riddick, a former African -Amercan player who works as a television analyst.
It has been said that Riddick was a close second to Gettleman for the job and during Gettleman’s first few seasons with the Giants, there were mock drafts afterwards posting what Riddick would have done if he were the Giants’ GM.
King spoke to Riddick about his experience with the Giants, which he believes afforded him a fair opportunity.
“I understand what the diversity committee is trying to do,” Riddick told King. “Their intention is honest and real. I know they spent a lot of time trying to think of how to get people into these positions. But the bottom line remains the same: Owners can hire who they want to hire. When I interviewed with the New York Giants, I felt it was a fair process. But if these policies are implemented, the first day I walk into the building, I know people with that organization would wonder: Did he get this job because he’s the best man for the job, or did he get it at least in part because it gives us a big break in the draft? On the first day of the job, that team would be undermining its own hire by injecting doubt in the minds of the people who work in the building. Is that how you really want a GM to start off his career?
“Owners need to answer the questions about why the numbers are the way they are. Nobody wants to get a job they didn’t earn. But of all the minority scouts who have risen up to be pro or college scouting directors, you cannot tell me some of them are not qualified to be GMs. If it’s not racism or they’re qualified, then what is it? We tend to surround ourselves with people who we’re comfortable with, people we have shared experiences with. How do you then branch out and get different people in your circle. You have to spend time with them, learn them. If the very first time minorities are meeting these owners is in an interview for the GM job, how are you going to get a fair shot?
“How can we set up more networking opportunities, so scouts and directors can mingle with and get to know owners — maybe at Super Bowls, at the combine, at owners meetings? But it truly has to have 100 percent buy-in from the owners.”
Riddick hit the nail on the head when he said, “owners can hire who they want to hire.”
The bottom line is that this is America in a nutshell. The NFL is a business and sometimes “out-of-the-box” hires are considered too risky for many of these clubs.
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