Taking to X, Ryan Clark responded to Mike Florio's criticism of his interview with Bill Belichick. Screen grab: The Pivot
By Matt Yoder on

A major storyline of the recent NFL coaching cycle is another year passing without the hiring of a Black head coach.

In spite of the NFL’s attempt at creating a more fair process for minority hiring practices, it seemingly has not been effective. The Rooney Rule that mandates teams interview at least one minority candidate for head coaching or front office positions. However, out of the ten coaching vacancies this offseason, just one was filled by a minority candidate in Robert Saleh for the Tennessee Titans.

It was a topic that Roger Goodell was forced to address at his Super Bowl press conference and one that is not getting any easier for the NFL to try to solve.

However, in talking about the situation on ESPN’s NFL Live, Ryan Clark argued that the NFL’s lack of Black and minority head coaches was due more to nepotism and relationships formed on coaching staffs throughout the league rather than systemic racism.

“I think it’s a big issue. We’ve got to get off of the race or racism conversation and get into the nepotism and relationship conversation. Because that’s what this is about,” Clark said.

In talking about the lack of effectiveness around the Rooney Rule, Ryan Clark stated that more needs to be done to help coaches get a start in the league instead of trying to push them across the finish line for head coaching jobs. He cited the famous 2013 Washington Redskins coaching staff with four future head coaches among the offensive staff. And these coaching trees often grow and multiply based on relationships formed early in careers. Of course, it doesn’t hurt if you’re the son of a coach, too.

“The Rooney Rule started at the finish line but we’ve got to get coaches a head start in the starting blocks. Look at the 2013 coaching staff in Washington. It had McVay, it had Shanahan, it had McDaniel, it also had LaFleur and Raheem Morris. And as two of them move on to be head coaches they hire those three guys as coordinators. And then you look at a guy like Klint Kubiak who moves in in Minnesota after Gary Kubiak his father moves on. Mike LaFleur, he coached with Robert Saleh in New York because he had a relationship with Kyle Shanahan,” Clark stated.

“You don’t get this a lot for the three black coaches you see on the defensive side of the ball. DeMeco Ryans hired by a team that drafted him. Aaron Glenn hired by a team that he played for. Todd Bowles got his job because of a 30 year relationship with Bruce Arians. The only coach I think who understood this was Tony Dungy. You had Jim Caldwell, you had Mike Tomlin, you had Herm Edwards, and you had Lovie Smith. This isn’t about racism in football, but the history of this country does play a part in it.”

As Ryan Clark points out, these head coaching opportunities come up much more often for offensive coordinators in today’s NFL than they do on the defensive side of the ball. Sean McVay has seen his last four offensive coordinators all become head coaches. But the pipeline for Black offensive coordinators is shockingly empty. According to the Sporting News, there are just two Black offensive coordinators currently on NFL staffs, the recently re-hired Eric Bieniemy in Kansas City and Mike McDaniel with the Chargers. Furthermore, all 18 offensive coordinators hired since 2024 under the age of 40 have been white.

The Rooney Rule has been adjusted to account for this. In 2022, the NFL mandated that every team must have at least one minority or female offensive coach. However, the league clearly still hasn’t seen the results of that initiative bear fruit in head coaching opportunities or even coordinator positions.

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