NFL commissioner Roger Goodell says league’s diversity efforts will continue

NEW ORLEANS – There’s no debating that NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has presided over the greatest increase in inclusive hiring in league history.

On his watch, professional sports’ most successful league has made significant strides in the hiring of high-raking officials of color in both football and business operations, including the first female team president of color in NFL history. Goodell also has pushed his staff to innovate in attempt to open doors for everyone in the league’s workforce, which resulted in a program intended to accelerate the rise of qualified minority employees in coaching and front-office management.

During his annual pre-Super Bowl news conference Monday at Caesars Superdome, Goodell addressed the league’s continued efforts regarding employment at the club level.

“I’m not at that stage [of reflecting on his legacy]. I’m always looking at what we have to do tomorrow. So I don’t look at it,” Goodell said in the home team locker room at the Caesars Superdome. “I am proud of it in this sense: I believe that our diversity efforts have led to making the NFL better.

“It’s attracted better talent. We think we’re better when we get different perspectives, people with different backgrounds. Whether they’re women or men or people of color, we make ourselves stronger and we make ourselves better. I think it’s something that will have a tremendous impact on this league for many, many years. We win on the field with the best talent, the best coaches, and I think the same is true off the field.”

On the other hand, considering the league’s poor history in this area, it wasn’t difficult for gains to be made under Goodell, many NFL observers argue. Still, Goodell has been proactive, as well as an ally to those working hardest to increase diversity from the front office to the field.

Following the lead of the administration of President Donald Trump, many corporations are dismantling their Diversity, Equity and Inclusion programs. The NFL will not be among them, Goodell said, reaffirming the league’s commitment to inclusive hiring.

“We got into diversity efforts because we felt it was the right thing for the National Football League. And we’re going to continue those efforts, because we’ve not only convinced ourselves we’ve proven it to ourselves — it does make the NFL better,” Goodell said. “We’re not in this because it’s a trend do get into it or a trend to get out of it. Our efforts are fundamental in trying to attract the best possible talent into the National Football League, both on and off the field.”

One area in which the NFL continues to struggle, however, is in the application of the Rooney Rule.

Commissioner Roger Goodell says the NFL will continue to promote inclusivity and diversity. AP Photo/Matt York

In place since 2003 for head coaches and expanded in 2009 to include general manager jobs and equivalent front-office positions, the rule – named after Dan Rooney, Pittsburgh Steelers chairman and onetime head of the league’s diversity committee – mandates that an NFL club must interview at least one minority candidate for these jobs. The NFL continues to tinker with the rule in hopes of strengthening it as a leaguewide tool to make hiring potentially more inclusive.

Despite efforts to best modify the rule through the years, it still has a fatal flaw: the temptation for those who are leading hiring searches to substitute sham interviews in place of a search for real diversity. That’s what appeared to play out in the New England Patriots’ hiring of Mike Vrabel to replace former head coach Jerod Mayo.

The Patriots were roundly criticized for interviewing Pep Hamilton and Byron Leftwich before making the long-expected move of signing Vrabel. Hamilton and Leftwich had not coached in the league since 2022, giving the appearance that the Patriots were only going through the motions to satisfy the rule before announcing Vrabel as their next on-field leader.

Is it time to scrap the Rooney Rule?

Despite criticism of the Rooney Rule, it still plays an important role in the league’s overall inclusive hiring efforts, Goodell said.

“Anytime you go through a good process, the Rooney Rule is a part of that process, and an important part of that process,” Goodell said. “There’s more to it. That’s only one aspect of our [hiring] policies. But I think going through that is obviously a very positive step.

“We also follow-up. We follow-up with candidates. We speak to them about the sincerity and the thoroughness of an interview to make sure we’re doing that in a proper fashion. All the steps that have been made, followed-up [on] and evaluated, I feel comfortable that it’s being done the right way.”

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The leader of the group that advises the NFL on matters of DEI in hiring understands why coaches of color remain frustrated.

“For years, the NFL has openly championed fair, open, and competitive hiring practices for head coaches, general managers, coordinators and senior-level executives,” Rod Graves, executive director of the Fritz Pollard Alliance, wrote to Andscape in a text message.

“The Rooney Rule aims to ensure diverse representation among candidates. However, many of us, along with various coaches and executives in the league, are concerned that the policy’s true objectives are diminishing, and some teams may be undermining the interview process.”

New York Jets head coach Aaron Glenn speaks during his introductory press conference at Atlantic Health Jets Training Center on Jan. 27. John Jones-Imagn Images

In addition to concern around the Rooney Rule, the NFL this season also suffered losses in minority representation within the ranks of head coaches and general managers.

The NFL began the season with a record nine head coaches of color, including six Black head coaches, which doubled the number from the preceding season. After only one season, the Patriots fired Mayo and the Las Vegas Raiders did the same to Antonio Pierce.

The New York Jets hired former Detroit Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn to fill their opening – the only one of seven top-coaching vacancies filled by a coach of color (the New Orleans Saints have not yet filled their job). The Tennessee Titans’ firing of general manager Ran Carthon is perhaps the biggest blow to the league’s expanded efforts to increase minority representation in top leadership positions.

Some high-ranking NFL officials cited the Titans’ hiring of Carthon in January of 2023 as proof that the accelerator program, the NFL’s newest hiring initiative, had already succeeded. A member of the program’s inaugural class, Carthon joined the Titans after initially meeting principal owner Amy Adams Strunk at the first gathering of team owners and candidates.

Nonetheless, Goodell can point to improvements during his time in charge. The question now is, will things continue to move in a positive direction while he remains in the job?

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