What Is the Rooney Rule in the NFL?
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The Rooney Rule is a policy implemented by the National Football League (NFL) in 2003 that requires league teams to interview ethnic-minority candidates for head coaching and senior operations positions.
What is the Rooney Rule?
In 2002, the NFL instituted the Rooney Rule, named after Pittsburgh Steelers owner Dan Rooney. The rule requires that teams interview at least one minority candidate for head coaching and front office executive positions.
The Rooney Rule has been credited with increasing the number of minority coaches and front office executives in the NFL. However, some have criticized the rule, arguing that it has not done enough to increase diversity or that it has led to tokenism in interviews.
How did the Rooney Rule come to be?
In December of 2002, Pittsburgh Steelers owner Dan Rooney was appointed by then-Commissioner Paul Tagliabue to head the NFL’s newly formed diversity committee. One of the first topics the committee addressed was the lack of head coaching opportunities for minority candidates. In 2003, the NFL instituted the “Rooney Rule,” named after Dan Rooney.
The Rooney Rule requires that teams interview at least one minority candidate for open head coaching and senior football operations positions. The rule applies to all teams, not just those with minority owners like the Steelers. In 2009, the NFL expanded the rule to require that teams interview at least one woman for any open position in senior football operations.
The Rooney Rule has led to an increase in opportunities for minority coaches and executives around the league, though some have criticized the rule as being insufficient or inconsistently enforced. In 2017, only six of the league’s 32 head coaches were minorities, down from a peak of eight in 2011. There has never been a female head coach or general manager in NFL history.
What has been the impact of the Rooney Rule?
The Rooney Rule has been successful in terms of increasing the number of minority coaches in the NFL. Prior to the rule’s implementation in 2003, there were only three African American head coaches in the NFL. In the years since, that number has increased to eight. The rule has also been credited with increasing the number of minority assistant coaches in the league.
Are there any criticisms of the Rooney Rule?
The Rooney Rule is not without its critics. Some have argued that the rule has not been effective in increasing diversity among head coaches and that it has actually had the opposite effect. In 2013, then-NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell acknowledged that the league needed to do more to promote diversity, but he defended the Rooney Rule, saying that it had “created an environment” in which minority candidates could be hired.
