How Many Black NFL Head Coaches Are There?

The answer to this question may surprise you. According to a recent report, the number of black NFL head coaches has actually increased in recent years.

Introduction

The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league. The league is made up of 32 teams, divided equally between the National Football Conference (NFC) and the American Football Conference (AFC).

In the NFL, head coaches are responsible for the overall management and direction of their team. They are also responsible for hiring and firing assistant coaches. As of the 2019 season, there are eight black head coaches in the NFL. This is down from nine in 2018, and 10 in 2017.

Here is a list of the black head coaches in the NFL as of 2019:

-Anthony Lynn, Los Angeles Chargers
-Brian Flores, Miami Dolphins
-Mike Tomlin, Pittsburgh Steelers
– Vance Joseph, Denver Broncos
-Steve Wilks, Arizona Cardinals
-Kris Richard, Dallas Cowboys
-Matt Patricia, Detroit Lions
– Marvin Lewis, Cincinnati Bengals

The NFL’s history with black head coaches

While the NFL has made strides in recent years to increase racial diversity among its coaching ranks, the league still has a long way to go. Currently, there are just four black head coaches out of 32 teams, which is an all-time high but still only 12.5%. That number is even lower when considering that two of those coaches – Anthony Lynn of the Los Angeles Chargers and Brian Flores of the Miami Dolphins – are rookies.

Black head coaches in the NFL are nothing new. They’ve been around since 1977 when Art Shell became the first to break through with the Oakland Raiders. But for much of the league’s history, they’ve been few and far between. In fact, it wasn’t until 2008 that the NFL hired its second black head coach, when Mike Tomlin took over the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Since then, there’s been a gradual increase in the number of black head coaches, with a few ebbs and flows along the way. The high point came in 2011 when there were eight black head coaches, but that number dipped back down to four just two years later.

The current group of black head coaches is young, with an average age of just 44 years old. And all four have significant experience as assistant coaches before getting their shot at a head coaching job. But despite their credentials, they all face significant challenges in their respective jobs.

The Rooney Rule

In order to promote diversity, the NFL established the Rooney Rule in 2003. Named after Pittsburgh Steelers owner Dan Rooney, the rule requires teams to interview at least one minority candidate for open head coaching and senior football operations positions.

Since the rule was put in place, the number of black head coaches has increased from 6 to 8, but there are still only 32 total head coaches in the NFL. In 2019, there were only 3 black coaches hired despite 7 vacancies.

Critics of the Rooney Rule say that it is not effective because it does not require teams to hire a minority candidate, only to interview one. They also say that the number of black assistant coaches has not increased significantly since the rule was put in place.

The current state of black head coaches in the NFL

In the NFL, African American head coaches are currently facing a bit of a crisis. Just a few years ago, there were eight black head coaches in the league. That number has since dwindled to just two. What’s even more troubling is that those two coaches – Anthony Lynch of the San Francisco 49ers and Hue Jackson of the Cincinnati Bengals – are both on the hot seat and could be facing firing at the end of the season.

This decline in the number of black head coaches can be attributed to a number of factors. One is the Rooney Rule, which requires NFL teams to interview at least one minority candidate for open head coaching positions. While the rule has been effective in getting more black coaches hired as assistant coaches and coordinators, it hasn’t done much to increase the number of black head coaches.

Another factor is that many of the top African American assistant coaches are choosing to stay in their current positions rather than take a risk on becoming a head coach. This is understandable, given that black head coaches have a shorter shelf life than their white counterparts. In fact, over the past decade, twice as many black head coaches have been fired before finishing their first season than white head coaches.

Despite these challenges, there are still some African American assistant coaches who are aspiring to become head coaches. They believe that they can be successful if given an opportunity and they are willing to take on the challenges that come with being a minority in a predominantly white league.

Why there are so few black head coaches in the NFL

One big reason there are so few black head coaches in the NFL is that the path to becoming a head coach generally goes through being a coordinator, and there are relatively few black coordinators. In 2020, of the 32 NFL teams, only six have black coordinators. Another reason is that the Rooney Rule, which requires teams to interview at least one minority candidate for open head-coaching jobs, has not been effective in increasing the number of black coaches hired.

Conclusion

As of the 2019 season, there are only three black head coaches in the NFL: Anthony Lynn of the Los Angeles Chargers, Brian Flores of the Miami Dolphins, and Ron Rivera of the Carolina Panthers. While this is a small number, it represents an increase from past seasons; in 2018, there were only two black head coaches, and in 2017 there was only one.

The lack of diversity among NFL head coaches is a reflection of the league as a whole; according to a 2019 report from The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport (TIDES), people of color make up 69.7% of NFL players, but only 24.9% of assistant coaches and 21% of senior administrators. The NFL has made some efforts to increase diversity among its ranks, including the “Rooney Rule,” which requires teams to interview at least one person of color for head coaching and senior operations positions, but clearly more needs to be done.