Reading through the threads this morning about the Dolphins' effort to land the latest flavor of the month, Jim Harbaugh, often I saw references to the Rooney Rule. Now, while I am ALL for equal opportunity for all, mandating a team MUST interview a black candidate for a head coaching position, to give blacks an "opportunity" to be a head coach is utter madness, and why? A head coach and his coaching staff during training camp...they evaluate talent during camp. Scribbling on clipboards...stopwatches a ticking...blocking drills...tackling drills...the coaching staff isn't looking at the color of the skin of these players. They're looking at who gives their team the ABSOLUTE BEST CHANCE to win. Shouldn't a football team's owner be doing the exact same thing when evaluating available coaches? Looking at the available candidates, regardless of skiin color, evaluating who he feels gives his team the ABSOLUTE BEST CHANCE to win? Besides, the Rooney Rule in my humble opinon is symbolically stupid as it doesn't MANDATE the hiring of minority head coaches. I can only imagine how someone like Ray Rhodes or any other non contender minority interviewee would feel when approached by a team for a head coaching interview..."Oh great, I'm the token black candidate who this team doesn't really want, but they have to interview someone...thanks for nothing" Just expressing frustration over what I perceive as true stupidity.
Mike Tomlin said the rooney rule is one of the reasons (main reason) he was hired in pitt, because whoever was making the decisions at pitt, was sitting in on one of his "stupid, pointless" rooney-rule interviews years prior, and was impressed with what he saw. These coaches take it serious, and they go through the process as if they have a legit shot to get the job. You never know what next hot-shot gm is just a assistant at the time, who will remember your interview and when they needing a HC they call them up. I agree the actual basis is done incorrectly. It seems they went from giving minorities a shot to, parading one random black guy in the room to satisfy the rule. But it is a little more than that. It just looks bad from the outside looking in.
It's a pain in the ***, but I don't have a problem with it. If an organization prepares correctly, it shouldn't hinder their ability to hire the right guy for the job.
I think the reason Tomlin was hired at Pitt was because they were familiar with him and he had been groomed for the job . The Rooney rule is in place because of incidents that occured in the past.Society in the NFL has got to a point where people are now hired for their qualifications and not what color they happen to be. If all of society was like that they wouldn't need such a rule.
Per a source, it seems likely with Bowles wrapped up in Dallas that we will interview Hue Jackson. Only time will tell.
Actually, they planned on hiring Whisenhunt and brought in Tomlin to satisfy the Rule only to find out they liked Tomlin more. Dam iPhone autocorrect...
And.....as Ethan Skolnick recalled last night....because a former Dolphins exec felt Tomlin was too 'hip hop'. Today's NFL players don't respond to that. Cam Cameron was just what we needed. Seriously, said former exec advised Tomlin was too hip hop and Ethan says that's why we passed. I cannot imagine Tomlin interviewed for the biggest job of his life quoting Pac and Biggie. I can't imagine he wore his pants below his *** and needed a Barbara Billingsley ("Oh stewardess? I speak jive.") to communicate with Huizenga. From what I recall, reports were that he was impressive. The rule can be a pain in the ***, I agree. Ideally it doesn't exist and everything is on a level playing field. But this is why it still exists.
That is hilarious if true. Only thing that woulda made it funnier is if Tomlin acted Hip-Hop on purpose, knowing he was the Rooney Rule interviewee. With a do-rag and a huge Cadillac gold chain and ****.
The Roony Rule is crap. It's his team, his business and he should be able to hire whomever he wants. Do people really believe that a guy who spends 1.1 BILLION on a business and then pays 100's of MILLIONS to his employee's, most of whom are minorities, is not going to hire someone because they are black? They are going to hire the best available to make their business money. White, black, green, blue or yellow. And even if there were a person stupid enough to hire a head coach based on something as dumb as skin color they wouldn't last long because they would be missing out on some great talent.
Well, while I agree the rule is bogus, unfortunately Billionaires have passed on coaches because of skin color. That's kinda why the rule was instituted. NFL owners are part of the G.O.B.C or Good Ol' Boys Club. Look at the rate for minority coaches on the college level, it's absurdly low.
Now you're comparing apples to oranges. College Universities and the NFL are very different. It's like saying that USPS is the same as FedEx.
From what I have read it is the central reason Tomlin got the job - he blew them away in the interview. I do think there are times it makes no sense - right now there are no minority coaches who have the pedigree of success, nor the demand, of a Harbaugh. Part of that is the problems in the college ranks and minority coaches (which is far worse %-wise than it is in the NFL). I think minority coaches should get more shots at this level and I think Ross is wrong to not interview others; but, at the same time I fully understand why they flew out to see Harbaugh. It's just a tough situation. But, you can't throw out the Rooney rule altogether.
So before the Vikings promote Leslie Frazier from interim HC to just HC, do they have to interview a white boy?
I think the rule should be changed that they have to interview 5 candidates, with three of them people who never had head coaching experience. Getting an interview for a head coaching position is very invaluable. There have been a few coaches who have gotten the job because of the Rooney rule who probably would have never gotten a shot. Not so much due to color, mostly due to the fact it is a very hard interview to get.
If your hiring someone to run your business are you looking at color or the best possible way to succeed?
No, my point was that black head coaches, and other minorities for that matter, do get passed over because of race. Not sure why college and the NFL are that much different, they both do it. I do agree the rule is stupid however, only because if a team wants to hire a coach who happens to he white, they're gonna hire him. Interviewing a black one is only so they can comply with the rule.
Its a way to break the glass ceiling. I don't think its a big deal, nor does it really hurt anybody. Giving coaches who other wise might not have a chance a shot at a head coaching position isn't a bad thing either.
Mike Tomlin is a frat brother of mine and I met him at a conference in DC. He's anything but Hip Hop. He was pretty professional even in a social setting. He is a younger coach so I can see where an older more conservative man might think him as being "hip hop." However, I don't think his youth should be mistaken for immaturity. If anything I think his youthfulness would appeal to players who are young themselves. I think the Rooney rule serves a purpose. It eliminates blatent cronyism. While a team may still choose who they wanted all along, it gets minority coaching names out there. Even if the coach is passed up for the HC job, he might be a good fit for a coordinator/asst HC position in an organization. It doesn't cost a significant amount of money and if one coach benefits from it, its well worth it. I just don't see the gripes over a rule that really doesn't make that much of a difference either way. All it can really do is help.
Finally the point of the rule and it only took 10 posts. If you are passed over from even getting an interview how can you expect to be hired? The rule is not stupid, it addresses a real problem, one that most people like to pretend does not exist. And its only stupid if ownership and management decide to make it little more than a formality. If they do that they are failing in their responsibility to do their due diligence in finding the best possible head coach.
You need the rule and as long as the coaches who are interviewing don't mind going through the process who cares. I think for some it's an opportunity to get experience interviewing for a head coaching position elsewhere, and as someone else stated it worked out for Tomlin great. Too bad we can't trade some draft picks to Pittsburgh and get him to be our Head Coach =/
I dislike and can never support the Rooney rule. It treats blacks like a special race of people who can't even get in the door by the merits of their work. What should happen is that a more open staff and FO gets the chance to hire the black coaches who work while the other organizations have to suffer losing with their Good Old Boy network of Cam Carmeron's and Dan Henning's. There's not excuse for affirmative action in a civilized and equal society. It's an indefensible practice that in and of itself states that minorities, on the backs of their accomplishments, cannot succeed without help. It just sets back racial progress a hell of a lot of years. In the end, it just looks like the successful looking down on the minorities and pitying them so much that emotion comes before reason and merit. Again, if you didn't want to hire Mike Tomlin because he was "too hip-hop" you should be made to suffer because of another more sensible team stealing him away. If the only reason you give me a shot is because you had to, I don't want that shot. [/PoFo]
The Rooney Rule does not just apply to black coaches. It applies to minority coaches overall, it's just that blacks are the most common minority in the NFL. People can interview Ron Rivera, Norm Chow, etc. for the Rooney Rule. It's a good rule because even if the FO is hellbent on not hiring a minority, and the minority absolutely kills it in the interview, the FO could always forward that information to other FOs in search of a new coach.
it is what it is another unnecessary hurdle in the field of competition why not apply the same rule to QB's or create a rule for the mandatory interviewing of white RB's? why not institute a Demographic Racial Proportionality Rule in all sports concerning the hiring of races @ the professional level? seems to me we have disproportionate numbers of minorities represented in both football & basketball the Rooney Imposition is simply inappropriate in 2011 is there a reverse racism @ work in professional sports today or do we simply play the best @ every position? think about it
Thats not true at all. You view it as such because some don't do the rooney rule because they already have an idea of what direction they want to take the hire. That in no way equals what you are trying to say it does. And it may be a civilized and equal society but you can't just pretend the past hasn't happened. All the ronney rule does is counter the past somewhat by adding a larger mix of minorities to the coaching candidate pool.
Because on-field talent has been a meritocracy (except for QBs) for the last 40 years. That hasn't been the case with coaching.
FellowMember Phyil: really? are you sure? sounds to me like a racists statement, a justification for the right hand that doesn't apply to the left. what would your reaction be if I posted your response with a twist: Because coaching talent has been a meritocracy for the last 40 years.... think about it. Maybe we should legislate the number of minorities that have to buy tickets @ sporting events to maintain a franchise? would that work for you? Competition (not imposition) is the Elixir of Success!
You know what I find funny? Think about it, how come it's only the glamour positions that people are concerned don't have enough minorities? Quarterback, Coach....how come you never hear anyone complaining that there aren't enough minority placekickers?
this is 2011 not 1911 we have a black president & first family that was elected by the majority of the American people he couldn't have been elected without the white vote what does that tell you? we're supposed to have entered the post racial era the BigRooney is a twentieth century phenomenon it is an unnecessary burden & carry-over we can do without it is as insulting & demeaning as it is inappropriate. it is a dinosaur & should not be a part of things moving forward Competition (not imposition) is the Elixir of Success! my colors are aqua & orange think about it
Fight racism with racism. It usually end well. Do you know what's happening in South Africa now that apartheid is gone? Role reversed apartheid. The whole, "the past happened" deal is exactly that, the past. How many current and former NFL owners and GM's were slave owners again? You can't "counter the past", 200 years later. You know what countered the past? Abolition. It was the present back then too. This does nothing to the coaching candidate pool. All it does is make guys like Leslie Frazier look like puppets and fools when the Seattle Seahawks bring him in for what he and they know is only a formality before they hire Pete Carroll. It's a stupid rule. All Affirmative action is absolutely idiotic.
First of all its not you have to interview a BLACK candidate to give BLACK coaches an equal opportunity. Despite how some believe, racism, but mostly prejudices still exist. This rule is great for many reasons many because of how it gets these MINORITY coaches names out there for future opportunities. Some of these coaches that have been seriously interviewed probably wouldn't have gotten a thought for the job had their name not been brought up else where. Good rule.
Posts like this are hilarious because when someone says anything like rooney rule or AA or things like that they scream "that was over 200 years ago!!!" Seriously?? That's so unbelievablely ignorant there's no response even needed
it is a horrible rule, minorities are well represented in the NFL, all races are there if a team doesnt hire a HC because he is black or asian or any other race then they deserve to lose
From ESPN now: Dolphins CAN'T hire Harbaugh due to ROONEY RULE I just heard this on ESPN TV. That damn stupid Rooney Rule will prevent us from throwing a ton of cash at Harbaugh. On a guess - I don't see this happening. There is too much against us. I don't see Harbuagh waiting around for us to interview a black coach. I see him going to SF ( my opinion)