NFL Should Scrap Rooney Rule for a Comprehensive Hiring Program

Former New York Jets and Kansas City Chiefs coach Herm Edwards has sounded off on the New Orleans Saints avoiding compliance with the Rooney Rule. The Saints are considering hiring Bill Parcells to take over their head coaching duties while Sean Payton is serving a year-long suspension for his involvement in the bounty saga. 

Said Edwards on ESPN (courtesy PFT):

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“It makes it a little bit of a scam now,” Edwards said on ESPN. “That’s the shame of it all. Sean Payton opening his mouth like he did, he really reflects that this thing is going to become a sham if Bill Parcells takes this job. Because if you do decide to interview a minority, you’re going to go with Bill Parcells. You’ve already said, ‘This is our coach.’ That’s the shame of it all. It puts the commissioner in another bind.”

“They’re making a mockery of the rule right now,” Edwards said.

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You know what? Maybe that's not the world's worst thing. 

While I applaud the intentions behind the Rooney Rule, it has become little more than a hoop for teams to jump through on their way to hiring whoever it is they intend to hire. I do think the rule has proven worthwhile in that it has forced owners and general managers to possibly cast a wider net and interview people they never would have ordinarily brought in.

However, I also find it a tad ridiculous that a rule designed to institute some perception of "fairness" ends up, in practical application, helping a narrow group of people, in this case African Americans. 

What about the gains among Latinos? Or Asians? What about the advancement of women in the front office or player personnel ranks? What about a comprehensive NFL program not just for coaching positions but for everyone? 

Everyone. 

When it comes to head coaching jobs, there are only 32 NFL teams. There are only a certain number of slots open every year for these extremely high-profile jobs. There are numerous qualified candidates that might not get a chance. Observers like to point to the hiring of Mike Tomlin as some watershed moment, some kind of validation that the rule is working—as argued by the Associated Press, per the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. But the Pittsburgh Steelers, along with the Oakland Raiders, have always been out in front when it came to hiring African Americans. 

That, to me, is the key here. If the NFL wants fewer sham interviews given just to satisfy some rule and more sincere interest in finding the best person for the job regardless of their background, they need to look at the ownership class that is making the ultimate hiring decisions. Broadening that base, diversity-wise, would do more to move things forward than any rule. The addition of Shad Khan, a Pakistani American, to this fraternity is a step in the right direction. 

Now, I hear you already. "Yeah, and what's the first thing Khan does? Signs off on Mike Mularkey over Mel Tucker!" 

ESPN's Roy Johnson had an interesting take on this:

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New Jags owner Shahid Khan and general manager Gene Smith reportedly considered enough people to fill a small bus -- Tucker being among them -- before settling on Atlanta offensive coordinator Mike Mularkey, who was to be introduced as Jacksonville coach Wednesday.

Since it was announced last month that he was buying the team, Khan has made it clear he is most enamored with coaches bred on the offensive side of the ball. Other than Tucker, who was the Jags' defensive coordinator, the other candidates were offensive coordinators. 

The scope of the Rooney Rule should be expanded to include each of the top coordinator positions -- offensive, defensive. But especially offensive coordinators.

And that should be implemented now.

Clearly, the hottest trend of the moment is offense. The reigning cliche is "it's a quarterback league," and by extension that means winning teams must be explosive.

The most-courted potential head coaches now (and for the foreseeable future) are offensive coordinators, especially those whose teams treat opposing defenses like the Washington Generals (I know, it's a mixed sport metaphor, but you get the gist). Guys like Joe Philbin and Rob Chudzinski, the coordinator who helped Carolina quarterback Cam Newton have the best rookie season ever in the history of the league, are almost sure to be head coaches soon.

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While I agree that change is in order, I disagree that the answer lies in modifying the Rooney Rule. The rule simply needs to go. In its place should be a comprehensive program that addresses all hiring and career-advancement inequities within the NFL.

Not only should this include getting marginalized candidates in circles where they can meet and speak at length with the league's decision-makers, but it should include an overhaul of the ludicrous power given to teams when blocking coaches from interviewing with rival clubs for anything other than a head coaching position. 

Again, it's about fairness. For everyone.

Allowing teams to "block" position coaches to go and interview for coordinator positions with other teams does as much to hinder the career advancement of up-and-coming coaches as the perceived inherent racism that resides within the offices of certain NFL owners. 

I know that, inevitably, there will be people who misconstrue what I am saying here. I know there will be pushback to this idea, and I will almost certainly be called naive at best or at worst downright ignorant. Nothing could be further from the truth. 

To be clear, what I am saying is that the NFL should scrap the Rooney Rule because teams have turned it into a sham with their token candidate interviews prior to hiring the guy they wanted all along. The NFL should replace it with a league-wide program that gets young up-and-coming coaches and management personnel in front of decision-makers.

Whether that's done through offseason seminars, classes, lectures or some other combination of all of them—or something else entirely—allowing upward advancement for everyone residing underneath the NFL umbrella will go a long way to helping every single person involved get more chances.

Fairness. For everyone.