How Many Minority Head Coaches Are There In The NFL?

There’s been a lot of discussion lately about the lack of diversity among NFL head coaches. So we decided to take a look at the numbers to see just how many minority head coaches are currently in the league.

Introduction

The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league consisting of 32 teams, divided equally between the National Football Conference (NFC) and the American Football Conference (AFC). The NFL is one of the four major professional sports leagues in North America, and the highest professional level of American football in the world.

Of the 32 NFL teams, there are currently only four head coaches who are minorities: two African Americans, one Latino, and one Asian American. This number has not changed since the 2019 season.

African American head coaches:
-Anthony Lynn (Los Angeles Chargers)
-Brian Flores (Miami Dolphins)

Latino head coach:
-Ron Rivera (Carolina Panthers)

Asian American head coach:
-Doug Marrone (Jacksonville Jaguars)

The Rooney Rule

The Rooney Rule is a National Football League (NFL) policy that requires league teams to interview Black or minority candidates for head coaching and senior operations positions. The rule is named after Pittsburgh Steelers owner Dan Rooney, who advocated for the measure.

In December 2002, the NFL’s Executive Committee enacted the rule following several seasons in which no Black coaches had been hired despite what was perceived to be a qualified pool of candidates. Although no specific numerical quota is mandated by the rule, it is widely believed that each team must interview at least one Black or minority candidate for any open head coaching or senior operations position.

The Rooney Rule has been credited with increasing the number of Black head coaches and minority represented in senior football operations positions in the NFL. However, some critics argue that the rule does not go far enough in ensuring racial diversity among NFL teams, while others believe that it tokenizes minorities and prevents qualified White candidates from being hired.

The current number of minority head coaches

In what has been seen as a victory for the Rooney Rule, the NFL has hired eight new minority head coaches this offseason, raising the total number of minority head coaches to seven — the most in league history. There are currently 32 NFL teams.

Of the eight new head coaches hired this offseason, five are African American, two are Latino and one is Asian American. The seven minority head coaches now represent 21.9 percent of all NFL head coaches, up from 12.5 percent last season.

The Rooney Rule requires that teams interview at least one minority candidate for open coaching and senior executive positions. The rule is named after Pittsburgh Steelers owner Dan Rooney, who was instrumental in its creation in 2003.

Since the rule’s inception, there has been a steady increase in the number of minority head coaches hired by NFL teams. In 2013, there were just four minority head coaches, representing 12.5 percent of all NFL teams. That number went up to six in 2014 (18.8 percent) and then to eight in 2015 (25 percent).

The NFL has come under fire in recent years for its lack of diversity among its coaching ranks, especially at the top level. In 2016, there were just four minority head coaches (12.5 percent), prompting some to call for changes to the Rooney Rule.

It’s worth noting that minorities are still vastly underrepresented among NFL assistant coaches. Of the league’s approximately 1,700 assistant coaches, only about 15 percent are minorities — down from 20 percent in 2011.

The history of minority head coaches

The first African American head coach in the NFL was Fritz Pollard, who coached the Akron Pros in 1921. Pollard was also the first black head coach in any major professional sport. In an effort to promote diverse hiring practices, the NFL developed the “Rooney Rule” in 2003. Named after Pittsburgh Steelers owner Dan Rooney, the rule requires teams to interview at least one minority candidate for vacant head coaching and senior football operation positions.

Since the implementation of the Rooney Rule, the number of minority head coaches in the NFL has increased steadily. As of 2019, there are seven minority head coaches in the league: Anthony Lynn (Chargers), Vance Joseph (Cardinals), Brian Flores (Dolphins), Ron Rivera (Panthers), Kliff Kingsbury (Cardinals), Mike Tomlin (Steelers) and Marvin Lewis (Bengals). While this is a significant increase from 2003 when there were zero minority head coaches, it should be noted that NFL teams are still far behind when it comes to diversity among their coaching staffs as a whole. In 2019, minorities made up just 21 percent of assistant coaches league-wide.

The future of minority head coaches

In the NFL, there are currently four minority head coaches. According to a recent report by The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport, this number is up from two in 2017 and just one in 2016. While the NFL has taken some steps to improve diversity among its coaching ranks, the number of minority head coaches still lags behind the percentage of minority players in the league.

Of the 32 NFL teams, only six are led by minority head coaches. This means that just 19% of NFL teams are coached by minorities, even though minorities make up nearly 70% of the league’s players. The four current minority head coaches are:

-Todd Bowles (New York Jets)
-Anthony Lynn (Los Angeles Chargers)
-Steve Wilks (Arizona Cardinals)
– Marvin Lewis (Cincinnati Bengals)

There has been some speculation that the recent firing of Hue Jackson by the Cleveland Browns could mean that there will be no minority head coaches in the NFL next season. However, it is worth noting that there are several prominent minority assistant coaches who could be in line for head coaching jobs in 2019. These include:

-Eric Bieniemy (Kansas City Chiefs)
-Teryl Austin (Cincinnati Bengals)
-Jimmy Raye III (Indianapolis Colts)
-Duce Staley (Philadelphia Eagles)