TThe aforementioned issue of lack of diversity in NFL recruiting arose when former Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores sued the league itself and three teams, Dolphins, New York Giants and Denver Broncos in which, among other things, he accused himself of unfair practices in hiring black strategists.
According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, in this context, the current head coach Seattle SeahawksPete Carroll, used last week NFL Annual Meeting in Palm Beach, Florida to take the owners of all NFL franchises face to face and directly blame them for these actions.
Powerful words by Pete Carroll
“He just left,” the source told Schefter, describing Carroll’s comments at the meeting. “He said that you can do anything, but until the owners get to know these candidates before the actual interviews and understand that they should hire people who are different from them, nothing will change.”
According to Schefter’s own account, this direct criticism didn’t sit well with the NFL moguls who reportedly took offense at his words.
Changes to the Rooney Rule
Following this meeting, a new NFL policy was announced whereby all 32 teams must now hire at least one female or minority member. as part of the offensive assistants’ coaching staff, the idea was that since most head coaches come from the offensive side, this will eventually increase the number of head coaches who are not in the majority.
In addition, the famous Rooney Rule added women to the language as a minority alternative in a now expanded obligation to interview two candidates from this excerpt for a head coach job.