NFL investigates Oakland Raiders' hiring of Jon Gruden over possible 'Rooney Rule' breach
Friday 12 January 2018 11:37, UK
The NFL is looking into whether the Oakland Raiders violated the Rooney Rule during the process of hiring a new head coach following comments made by owner, Mark Davis earlier this week.
Gruden, whose appointment was announced on Wednesday, returns to the same franchise where he made his debut as an NFL head coach 20 years ago with the Raiders reportedly offering a 10-year deal worth $100m (£74m).
The Rooney Rule requires teams to interview at least one person from a minority background for each head coaching or senior football operations position.
It was thought that the Raiders had complied with this after Oakland's general manager, Reggie McKenzie interviewed the team's tight ends coach, Bobby Johnson and USC offensive coordinator, Tee Martin before announcing that John Gruden was to be appointed last Saturday.
However, at Tuesday's news conference with John Gruden, Davis revealed they held their first meeting on Christmas Eve. A meeting he left feeling, "pretty confident he was all in" Davis added, "I never wavered from all in and this time he didn't waiver either"
The NFL's announcement comes after the Fitz Pollard Alliance, a campaign group that promotes diversity in American football, asked the league to look into Gruden's appointment after expressing concern that an agreement was reached before they interviewed any minority candidates.
"As soon as we learned of the reports, we formally requested that the NFL thoroughly investigate the matter to conclusively determine whether the Rooney Rule was violated and if it was violated, to impose an appropriate punishment," Fitz Pollard Alliance counsel Cyrus Mehri and N. Jeremi Duru said in a statement.
The Raiders fired Jack Del Rio after losing the final game of the regular season on New Year's Eve. Mark Davis said he had been chasing Gruden for six years and would not have made the change if Gruden had not been available.
If the NFL does find that the Oakland Raiders violated the Rooney Rule, the Raiders could face a fine from the league.
The Football Association announced on Tuesday that England will implement the 'Rooney Rule' when they appoint a successor to Gareth Southgate, as part of new reform plans.
