The Undefeated is pretty much a sports themed Black Lives Matter blog that ESPN bought.
The intent of the Rooney Rule was just to make sure that a wider group of people got interviews. Somehow it is now thought it was supposed to be some kind of quota system where X number of minority coaches should be hired every year.
I heard some idiot say that Tomlin was the last time the Rooney Rule actually worked. Because he was the last no name black coach to get a head coaching job. That’s a complete misunderstanding of the rule.
The point is to get more coaches names out there. Also, whenever you get interviewed, you gain experience for your next interview. So, people look at a situation like the Raiders and cry about how it’s going against the Rooney Rule because a minority has no shot and the interview will be a sham. That’s not true.
If the Raiders interview a minority, what happens is that person’s name is then in the air as having been interviewed for a head coaching job. That is a big deal becuase it will lead to more interviews. Also, the candidate will have experience being interviewed and will likely guve a much better interview the next time. In other words, it gives you a practice run for the future, and that has paid off several times.
i can’t tell you how many times i’ve heard about longtime black and white coaches that don’t get a head coaching job because they suck in the interview.
There have been many black head coaches since the Rooney Rule. What we’ve learned is that black coaches suck at the job too. There’s a reason why the same coaches get hired over and over. It’s because most fail, regardless of race. It really is a huge leap of faith to hire any coach who has never done it before.
If you are a GM and you’ve been there a few years with a losing record and you know that this coaching hire will determine if you get fired or not in a year or so, how big of a risk do you take. Do you hire the young assistant who has never done it, or do you look for a recycled guy like John Fox who may not have won it all but he has been successful?
I guarantee if Marvin Lewis left the Bengals, he would have been hired almost immediately by another team.