The Rooney Rule

The Rooney Rule is an innovation developed by the NFL in response to concerns over the relative lack of African-American coaches in the league.  The rule, as laid out in an excellent book on the subject, simply requires teams searching for a head coach to interview at least one minority candidate before offering the job to someone.  It does not require that the hiring decision be based on race, only that the process include at least one minority.

The rule has worked well for the most part, when teams undergo honest-to-goodness searches for a new head coach.  Where it works less well is when a team is not searching for a head coach because the team knows who it wants, usually because of a past relationship with the team r someone in management.  In 2003 the Detroit Lions had an opening for a head coach, and ex-49er Steve Mariucci, a native of Michigan, was out of work.  The Lions hired Mooch without interviewing any other candidates, and in the first test of the NFL’s commitment to the Rooney Rule were fined $200,000.

A similar situation is now going on with the Raiders’ hire of former coach Jon Gruden, and http://www.nfl.com/news/stthe NFL is looking into whether the Raiders violated the rule.  One analyst has already rendered judgment and urged that the Raiders be fined a cool million dollars.  Many other have called the Raiders’ “interviews” of two minority candidates obvious shams and thus render the Raiders guilty, saying that sham interviews for candidates that have no chance are no better than no interview at all.

I think this misunderstands the purpose of the rule.  The Rooney Rule is not about results, but process.  Even if the process is a sham, the fact that qualified minority candidates are identified as potential head coaches does what the rule intended—it expands the pool of potential head coach hires outside the “old boy network.”  Maybe that team never wavered from their desire to hire a coach who happened to be White, but subsequent teams who perhaps are more open to making a minority hire will have a stronger pool of candidates to talk to.

Besides, how do you correct the Rule for when a team has already made up its mind on a candidate, because of his connection to the geographic area, the team, or the team’s management?  And talking to other candidates, Black or White, is still obviously a sham, and forcing them to NOT make it a sham by hiring a minority candidate exceeds the scope of the Rooney Rule.  The Rule is not about imposing a decision on a team, but broadening the pool of candidates for future openings.  A team shouldn’t have to offer a job to a minority coach who is their legitimate second choice to comply with the Rooney Rule.

I’m not saying teams that defy the Rooney Rule shouldn’t face punishment; the consequences imposed on the Lions in 2003 sent a strong message that the National Football League was committed to diversity among its head coaches, and as a result more minority coaches work in the NFL than ever before. 

One of the architects of the Rooney Rule has said that based on reports he's seen, the Raiders may have violated the Rule. It all comes down to exactly how vocal the Raiders were in telling Gruden about his status; was he a “front-runner” or did he essentially have the job?  Even though it is a legal question, it is a shame the decision might rest on such, um, legalisms.  Teams shouldn’t be allowed to skirt the team if they want to hire a white coach, but there the same “mens rea” (guilty mind in Latin, a legal term) if they want to hire someone who happens to be White for reasons unrelated to his skin tone?

The Raiders have perhaps the most storied history of diversity hires, including head coaches Tom Flores and Art Shell.  They are basically the Dodgers of the National Football League.  Perhaps they should be punished, to make sure the Rooney Rule still has teeth, particularly at a time when race relations in the NFL are at an all-time low (a White owner referring to Black players as “inmates” should be fined more than the Raiders).  But the NFL shouldn’t go crazy and treat the Raiders like those notorious law breakers, the New England Patriots.