Rooney Rule
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Rooney Rule, established in 2003,[1] requires National Football League teams to interview minority candidates for head coaching and senior football operations opportunities. The rule is named for Dan Rooney, the owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers and the chairman of the league's diversity committee, and is often cited as an example of affirmative action.
Since the Rooney Rule was established, several NFL franchises have hired minority head coaches (including the Steelers themselves, who hired Mike Tomlin before their 2007 season,[2] while Rooney himself contends that Tomlin's hiring did not result from the Rule).[3] At the start of the 2006 season, the overall percentage of African American coaches had jumped to 22%, up from 6% prior to the Rooney Rule.[4] Even so, the policy is still debated and no team has stated whether the Rooney Rule contributed to the hiring of a minority.
The rule does not apply if an assistant coach has language in his contract guaranteeing him the starting job in case of an opening. [5] This was the case when Mike Martz took over as head coach of the St. Louis Rams before the 2000 season. Also, the rule does not apply if the assistant coach taking over the head position is a minority, as was the case with Mike Singletary and the San Francisco 49ers in late 2008.[6]
In 2003, the NFL fined the Detroit Lions $200,000 for failure to interview minority candidates for the team's vacant head coaching job. After Marty Mornhinweg was fired, the Lions immediately hired former San Francisco 49ers head coach Steve Mariucci to replace him without interviewing any other candidates. The Lions claimed they attempted to interview other candidates but that the minority candidates withdrew from interviews, believing Mariucci's hiring was inevitable.
Recently, several legal scholars have advocated for extending the Rooney Rule to college football, where the number of minority head coaches hovers around 6%.[7]
As of June 15, 2009, Rooney Rule requirements now apply to all searches for senior football operations positions within the NFL, regardless of a team's title for that position.[8]
[edit] References
- ^ Thanks to Rooney Rule, doors opened, ESPN article, 2/9/2007.
- ^ "Tomlin proof NFL's Rooney Rule is working as intended". Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/steelers/s_489701.html. Retrieved on 2007-09-15.
- ^ http://www.newsday.com/sports/football/ny-sptomlin016020047feb01,0,7082584.story
The Rooney Rule dictates that for all head-coaching openings, each team must interview at least one minority candidate. But here's what's interesting: The coach who might be the Rooney Rule's greatest advertisement didn't benefit from it. "Let me say this: Mike Tomlin was not part of the Rooney Rule," Rooney said. "We had already interviewed Ron Rivera [then the Bears' defensive coordinator], and so that fulfilled the obligation," Rooney said. "We went on, had heard about Mike, called him in and talked to him. He was very impressive."
- ^ Tackling Unconscious Bias in Hiring Practices: The Plight of the Rooney Rule, Brian W. Collins, June 2007 NYU Law Review.
- ^ [1]
- ^ 49ers to give Singletary multi-year deal
- ^ Time for a Hail Mary? With Bleak Prospects of Being Aided by a College Version of the NFL's Rooney Rule, Should Minority College Football Coaches Turn Their Attention to Title VII Litigation? , Michael J. Nichols, Fall 2008 Virginia Sports & Entertainment Law Journal.
- ^ [2]
