Former Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores said he didn't need to file a federal lawsuit against the NFL alleging racist hiring practices "to see that there's a problem" with the so-called Rooney Rule.
"I think the numbers speak for themselves," he told NBC News on Wednesday as his complaint rocketed across the sports world and reignited discussions about the league's lack of diversity among its coaching staff and the upper rungs of management.
The Rooney Rule, named after Dan Rooney, the former Pittsburgh Steelers owner and chairman of the NFL's diversity committee, was adopted in 2003 and requires teams to interview diverse candidates for coaching jobs. In addition, at least "one minority and/or female candidate" must be interviewed for senior-level positions.
But that almost two decades later there is just a single head coach who is Black — Mike Tomlin of the Steelers — among the NFL's 32 teams is one of many glaring examples of how the Rooney Rule, which had been making strides to showcase diversity hiring, has returned the league to a pitiful place, sports industry and legal experts say.
When the Rooney Rule was first implemented, "we had a great run," Cyrus Mehri, a civil rights lawyer who helped author its language, said. "Not only was it leveling the playing field just by getting people who may otherwise be overlooked in the door, but they were getting hired."
"How is it that we’ve plummeted to almost being back to square one?" he asked.
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