NFL Rooney Rule Updated to Include Women; Teams Must Add Minority Offensive Coach

The NFL continues to amend its policies on diversity, equity and inclusion this offseason, and with that the league announced Monday that women will now be more included in the Rooney Rule. 

The Rooney Rule—which was adopted in 2003 to promote diverse leadership—requires NFL teams to interview "diverse" candidates for coaching and front-office positions. 

While women were included in earlier iterations of the hiring standards for some roles, women who are interviewed for a coaching or front-office role will now count toward the Rooney Rule requirement for teams. The Athletic's Lindsay Jones pointed out that the updated policy could result in teams fulfilling the requirement by interviewing two women and zero Black men for a vacancy.

Under the new policy, the league will also require teams to include at least one “diverse person (female or a member of an ethnic or racial minority)” as part of their offensive staffs.

During the 2021 season, women made up 38.8 percent of the NFL league office, according to The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport. In addition, women made up 25.3 percent of teams' senior administration, 3.1 percent of CEOs and presidents and 1.5 percent of assistant coaches. 

With the Rooney Rule changes, those numbers could increase in 2022. 

The NFL also announced Monday the formation of the Diversity Advisory Committee, which has been created to review team diversity policies with a focus on senior-level coaching and front-office positions. 

This all comes amid concern about the NFL's hiring practices and the lack of diversity in the league following Brian Flores' lawsuit against the league and several of its teams alleging racial discrimination.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell also said in a memo to teams nearly two months ago that the league's efforts to promote diversity for its head coaching pool was "unacceptable."

In addition to these changes, the league is expected to make more before the 2023 hiring cycle, according to NFL.com.