PITTSBURGH — Steelers president Art Rooney II said the NFL has not seen enough advancement with hiring minority head coaches, but he defended how advancements and new policies implemented in the Rooney Rule have impacted front-office positions in the league.
Rooney, though, said he would not comment on the specific allegations made in a lawsuit brought by former Miami Dolphins coach Brian Flores against the NFL and several teams.
“Over the past several years, our Diversity Committee has recommended, and ownership has adopted, a number of enhancements to the Rooney Rule as well as new policies designed to ensure that women and minorities are receiving full and fair consideration for coaching and front office positions,” Rooney said in a statement Thursday. “The details of these enhancements and new policies have previously been made available.”
Rooney was referring to the league expanding the rule last year to require teams to interview at least two candidates not only for head coach and general manager, but also for a coordinator position. Previously, teams were required to interview only one candidate.
“While I acknowledge that we have not seen progress in the ranks of head coaches, we have seen marked improvement in the hiring of women and minorities in other key leadership roles such as coordinator positions, general manager positions, and front-office positions both in and out of football operations,” Rooney said. “I believe this progress has been made as a result of the implementation of many of the enhanced policies that were recently adopted.”
The Steelers have two minorities among their top senior-level positions — coach Mike Tomlin and vice president of football and business operations Omar Khan.
After Flores and Houston Texans coach David Culley were fired after the 2021 season, Tomlin remains as the only Black head coach in the league.
“The commissioner and league executives, as well as the diversity committee, remain committed to working with all clubs, the Fritz Pollard Alliance, and others in making these efforts as effective as possible and building upon them to promote the desired impacts on hiring decisions in the league at all levels, including head coach positions,” Rooney said.
