Getty Images
Almost exactly a year ago, Steelers team president Art Rooney II admitted that the Rooney Rule did not work as planned in the 2020 hiring cycle and needed adjustments. Rinse. Repeat.
Rooney has similar thoughts about the hiring process in 2021, despite the expansion of the rule.
“There is still work to be done in this area, without a doubt,” said Rooney this week, Associated Press.
The seven NFL teams with vacancies in this cycle interviewed 11 minorities and 16 whites and only two of the vacancies were filled by minorities. The Jets hired Robert Saleh, who is of Lebanese descent, and the Texans hired David Culley, who is black.
Notably, the Chiefs’ offensive coordinator, Eric Bieniemy, again failed to get a job as a head coach.
Mike Tomlin of Pittsburgh, Brian Flores of Miami and Ron Rivera of Washington are the other major minority coaches.
“We haven’t made as much progress as a coach as we would like,” said Rooney. “But I would say that we have made some progress on the General Manager’s side, which is encouraging. And then we’ll have to look at the coordinator’s side to see how much progress we’ve made on that front.
“There are many pieces that we will have to sit down when everything is said and done and really analyze what happened, and there are things that we can do to strengthen opportunities for minority coaches. I think last year we took a series of measures that I think will pay dividends over time, but that doesn’t mean we can’t do more, and we’re going to take another look at this in the off season. “
Minorities filled two of the seven general manager vacancies, with Terry Fontenot going to Atlanta and Brad Holmes to Detroit. Andrew Berry of Cleveland and Chris Grier of Miami are the other black general managers in the league.