In a league that’s predominantly played by black men, there’s still a struggle to hire and maintain black coaches. The Rooney Rule was instituted to give black coaches an opportunity to interview for head coaching positions in the league but they’re still not being hired. Even if they’re being hired, they’re on a tight leash. Win or be replaced.
Mike Tomlin is the longest tenured black coach for the Pittsburgh Steelers and the hiring of DeMeco Ryans for the Houston Texans was a great turn in the right direction for that franchise. Especially after drafting CJ Stroud at quarterback and linebacker Will Anderson Jr in the NFL Draft, the Texans have made it clear they will be competitive again. It will be a great situation for Ryans but the question is, will he be able to fulfill his six year contract, or will be on a tight leash too?
It’s been a long uphill climb for black quarterbacks to become the staple of the NFL and they become the faces of the franchise. That’s still a battle within itself because the expectation is for black quarterbacks to “always” be pocket passers and they can’t utilize their athleticism to run from time to time.
Somehow, it’s perfectly fine to pay black athletes millions of dollars to perform but the head honcho of the team isn’t a black face. What’s wrong with that picture? Why are black athletes in football being coached by only white men the majority of their careers from high school through college and into the pros.
There has to be more done to get black coaches hired and also given the opportunity to grow and develop. It’s not to say all black coaches should stay on teams where they’re not producing, especially when they’re given the talent to win. It’s not just black coaches that are the scapegoat of not winning on the teams they’re hired to. It’s also the defensive or offensive coordinators that are fired too.
The coaching carousel of professional leagues is very prevalent but the only difference is, when black coaches are fired, they aren’t hired as quickly as a white coach. There are so many questions as to why but not enough answers and that’s where the uncomfortable conversations need to happen.
Former players have vocalized it on so many platforms but now it’s on the NFL to change the culture. It’s on the owners, team managers and the league as a whole to start making changes to what’s been going on for decades. It’s not that black coaches aren’t qualified because they are, they just need to be given a fair chance to coach and not wonder if their job is secure from one season to the next.
We can write these articles and open dialogue about this, but changes need to happen before we can vouch for watching a league where black athletes are bringing in billions in money and market but not a leader and black face of the franchise to call, “coach.”
