Former NFL coach and current NBC analyst Tony Dungy is going into the Hall of Fame this weekend. With that in mind, Dungy is getting plenty of time to air his views ahead of his induction.
One of the outlets to talk to Dungy is the New York Times. In the interview with the Times, Dungy said he doesn’t believe that the Rooney Rule is being used like it should be.
The rule is designed so more minorities are hired in the NFL as head coaches and front office officials. Each team is required to interview a minority candidate when filling one of those positions. Dungy, however, believes that teams are not following the spirit of the rule.
“What it was designed to do is slow the process down and for teams to investigate candidates,” said Dungy, the first black coach to win a Super Bowl. “Then you can look at the whole sphere of candidates.
“Teams still want to get a coach (quickly) and fill a staff. People who do their homework will unearth good coaches if they investigate everything.”
As the first African American coach to win a Super Bowl, this issue is of extra importance to Dungy. He still mentors African American head coaches today, including Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin.
“People can’t be afraid to go outside the box,” Dungy said. “When I came up (through 15 years as an assistant coach), I might not have been a big enough name to sell tickets, or I didn’t fit the mold. If someone does not have confidence in themselves, they won’t hire those guys. They’ll make the safe hire.
“We’ve got to get past that.”
As research has shown, Dungy has a point. An ESPN study released in July shows that the movement to increase diversity among NFL head coaches has worsened since Dungy’s days.
Teams have taken a chance on 21 first-time white head coaches and only one first-time minority head coach, Todd Bowles, over the past five hiring cycles (2012-16). The gap was an identical 21-1 nearly two decades ago, when the New York Jets made Herm Edwards the only first-time minority hire from 1997-2001.
For anyone who watches the NFL on a weekly basis, this lack of diversity isn’t hard to see. Hopefully, Dungy’s use of his platform will inspire more teams to increase diversity on their coaching staff.
