Ryan Clark: Rooney Rule has ‘run its course’ and ‘become a joke’

The New England Patriots wanted to hire Mike Vrabel, so they did.

But how the organization and Robert and Jonathan Kraft got there has come under fire. After firing a minority head coach in Jerod Mayo, just one season after he was tabbed to be Bill Belichick’s successor, the Patriots knew who they wanted to hire, but they also knew they had to adhere to the Rooney Rule.

The Patriots wasted no time interviewing Pep Hamilton and Byron Leftwich; two touted offensive coordinators who had been out of the league for a couple of seasons. Not waiting for coaches still in the NFL Playoffs allowed them to move quickly and decisively, culminating in Vrabel’s hiring less than a few days ago.

Two NFL insiders, Jordan Schultz and Albert Breer, criticized the Patriots for blatantly skirting the rule and turning it into a sham in the process. But the Patriots powered through, as NFL insiders other than Schultz and Breer were largely complicit, wrote Awful Announcing’s Drew Lerner, as New England skirted the spirit of the rule.

Bomani Jones, however, disagreed. He didn’t believe the Patriots had skirted the Rooney Rule meaningfully.

Ryan Clark, on the other hand, did.

On Inside the NFL, he criticized New England’s approach, calling it a “mockery” of the rule. Clark even advocated for its complete elimination.

NFL teams are entitled to hire who they feel is best for the coaching job, & at head coach I believe that’s moved beyond color. Now, it’s time to create better resume & career building opportunities for minority to combat nepotism.

The entire football world knew Jerod Mayo was… pic.twitter.com/0byLf5KZuU

— Ryan Clark (@Realrclark25) January 16, 2025

“I think this kind of puts a light on the Rooney Rule, which, to me, the New England Patriots made a mockery of,” said Clark. “To interview Pep Hamilton and Byron Leftwich, two coaches who aren’t even in football right now, just to fulfill a quota. The Rooney Rule was put in place, so some of these minority coaches could get opportunities to get in front of some of the executives and some of these owners, that truly were looking to give the job to the best person.

“Now, I want to make it clear: I believe we have moved to a point where organizations will hire the best person they feel for the job. But let’s not make coaches, who have worked their entire lives for this opportunity, be the token interview. I think a better solution is for teams who want to skip the Rooney Rule, like the New England Patriots probably would have, because they wanted Mike Vrabel, allow them to hire someone on the lower level that reports directly to the head coach, reports to directly to the offensive coordinator, so they could get some of that tutelage that allows their resumes and their careers to build.”

Fair enough. But Clark wants to stop “the bullcrap interviews” just so teams can say they checked a box.

“When it was implemented initially, I believe it worked,” Clark said. “It has now run its course and become something that is a joke to NFL and NFL coaches, and more importantly, to the people it was supposed to help.”

That seemed to resonate with both Chris Long and Bill Belichick.

The latter of whom said that he agreed with Clark “100 percent” and that he “hit it right the head.”

“I love Mike Vrabel. I think he’s a great coach,” the newly-minted UNC Tar Heels head coach said. “Certainly was a great player, but coaching against him, his teams were always well-prepared; they were tough; he does a good job. I agree. I thought the process was a sham, and that’s obvious. But Mike’s a good coach. I have no issues with Mike at all.”

Clark sees the Rooney Rule as having run its course, and the Patriots’ handling of it is a perfect example of why it needs to go. He knows that not everyone will agree with him. Still, he firmly believes that until all 32 organizations start putting real, genuine effort into hiring diverse talent, it’s a charade that, to Clark, is just a waste of everyone’s time.

A sham, even.