Calvin Scott is a third-year media major. His views do not necessarily reflect those of the Ball State Daily News.

In the last 20 years, the NFL has progressively reached DEI (Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion) quotas toward front offices and coaching staffs. This results from the “Rooney Rule,” a policy governed by the league that requires teams with position vacancies to interview a minority for the job. Depending on the position, teams sometimes have to interview more than one minority for the job.

That rule is to get minorities’ foot in the door, but what about keeping the position long-term, or the job security that follows the initial hiring?

Former head coaches Jerod Mayo of the New England Patriots and Antonio Pierce of the Las Vegas Raiders were both fired after their first full season as head coaches. Why out of all the organizations with head coaches on the hot seat do the two black head coaches get laid off immediately after the conclusion of the regular season?

Let’s look at the numbers.

In the last ten years, 53 white head coaches were hired in the NFL. Over that same ten-year period, 14 black head coaches have been hired. Many people would suggest there is a problem within the NFL when they see these numbers, but I saw a bigger issue. Out of the 53 white head coaches I mentioned, only six of them have been one-and-done and fired after their first year. On the other hand, out of the 14 black head coaches, five were fired after their first season of coaching.

That six out of 53 white head coaches getting fired after their first season of coaching makes up 11 percent. That five out of 14 black head coaches getting fired after their first season of coaching makes up 35 percent.

I thought the NFL was trying to fix the problem by hiring more people of color and minorities, but now I realize there is more to the case than just filling social and DEI quotas.
Were these black head coaches hired when they weren't supposed to be hired, or is the problem that these black head coaches were fired when they weren't supposed to be fired?

NFL organizations shouldn’t hire these guys in the first place if they’re just going to give them the boot after one season.

The Patriots and the Raiders had bad years, both finishing with a record of 4-13 led by a monotonous offense with no true identity; the blame can't just be all on the head coach. One thing I notice in most of these situations with black head coaches in all sports is that no matter how the team performs, the media will always find a way to make the black head coach the scapegoat for whatever the case may be. There is only so much they can do.

At the end of the day, getting minorities and women into leading roles in the NFL is already a huge issue with a large number of obstacles, but there also needs to be some awareness of the job security of these minorities in these roles as we're seeing more of them not keeping the job for more than one season. This problem must get more attention because I can’t see how any minority can continue to find success as a head coach in the NFL.

Contact Calvin Scott via email at calvin.scott@bsu.edu or on X @CalvinAJScott.

Share