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The NFL held a virtual league meeting on Tuesday. Items discussed involved the expansion of the Rooney Rule as well as another proposal which would award teams higher draft selections if they were to hire a minority coach or general manager. As expected, the expansion to the Rooney rule has been made official, but the proposal on giving teams incentives for hiring minority candidates has been tabled.
BREAKING: NFL owners have tabled the resolution to incentivize the hiring of minority coaches and general managers, per source.
— Jim Trotter (@JimTrotter_NFL) May 19, 2020
The proposal would give teams a higher draft pick with their third round selection should they hire and retain either a minority head coach or general manager. The idea was scrutinized by many, including former Steelers’ player and defensive coordinator Tony Dungy who was the first African-American head coach to win a Super Bowl. Dungy believed the proposal would have unintended consequences which would not be beneficial.
Steelers’ team president Art Rooney II is also the chairman of the NFL’s Workplace Diversity Committee. According to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, Rooney will be looking into the resolution for future consideration.
#Steelers chairman Art Rooney, the chairman of the Workplace Diversity Committee, says the league will “take an additional look at and get more input on” the resolution tabled today that would provide incentives for hiring minority candidates to certain positions.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) May 19, 2020
As for the changes to the Rooney Rule, they were outlined in a previous article here at Behind The Steel Curtain. For A brief explanation, here is one courtesy of Steelers.com’s Bob Labriola.
3 enhancements to Rooney Rule passed: 2 minority interviews for a head coach job; 1 minority interview for a Sr. Football/GM job; 1 minority interview for a coordinator job; 1 minority or female interview for a Sr. level job at league or club level. More coming on #Steelers.com
— Bob Labriola (@BobLabriola) May 19, 2020
Another way to expand the opportunities for all coaches to move up the NFL ranks came with another decision accepted by the owners on Tuesday. In the past, teams have been able to block employees from interviewing for jobs with another franchise.
BREAKING: NFL owners have voted to approve the resolution that would prevent teams from blocking assistant coaches from interviewing for coordinator positions, per sources. This is an important step.
— Jim Trotter (@JimTrotter_NFL) May 19, 2020
In all, the NFL expanded the Rooney Rule in order to give minority candidates additional opportunities for advancement. While figuring out a system to actually aid in the hiring of these candidates is something the league has yet to figure out, it may simply come down to their not being an easy answer to solve a difficult problem.
Labriola’s entire article outlining the changes as well as thoughts from Art Rooney II himself can be seen below.
#Steelers President Art Rooney II: 'It’s a question of developing coaches at all levels, and some of the things we’ve tried to do here today will help us address that.' https://t.co/yQhOzkb8YV
— Bob Labriola (@BobLabriola) May 19, 2020