NFL and Fritz Pollard Alliance join forces to improve Rooney Rule
Wednesday 12 December 2018 23:00, UK
The NFL has announced a revision to the Rooney Rule which the league hopes will strengthen the rule’s effectiveness going forward.
Adopted in 2003 and named after late Pittsburgh Steelers owner Dan Rooney, the rule is an NFL policy requiring every team with a frontline vacancy to interview at least one or more diverse candidates.
The NFL plans to institute an approved list of candidates for teams to work from while also accepting their choice to interview candidates from outside their own organisation.
The validity of candidates for vacancies was called into question last year, when the Oakland Raiders seemed intent on hiring Jon Gruden as head coach.
Owner Mark Davis was ridiculed for interviewing coaches who were not being seriously considered over Gruden. Davis said he interviewed then-Southern Cal offensive coordinator Tee Martin - not viewed as a realistic candidate - and Raiders tight ends coach Bobby Johnson.
An NFL investigation found no wrongdoing under the existing Rooney Rule.
Under the altered rule, the Fritz Pollard Alliance will provide a list of black assistant coaches worthy of consideration for each hiring cycle. The NFL, in turn, will compile a separate list using a career development advisory panel.
"It's a co-mingling of both of the lists, so it's not all minority," Pollard Alliance chairman John Wooten said.
"What we've done is brought the best together ... so it comes out on one list. And that's what will be given to all the clubs. It will make it easier for them to interview the best people."
Teams still can interview in-house candidates for openings. However, the rule aims to establish or define candidates as qualified.
"It needed to be strengthened," Wooten said. "Any rule that you don't adjust, that you don't update when it needs to be updated, people will find a way to circumvent it."
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell added: "Since the inception of the Rooney Rule, we have seen the rule adopted across business sectors and considered an industry best practice to increase diversity.
"The policy updates made today will bolster the current Rooney Rule requirements and are intended to create additional opportunities for diverse candidates to be identified, interviewed, and ultimately hired when a vacancy becomes available."
