Rocio Robles
Complaints about the lack of minorities in the NFL continue to pop up everywhere and this time it was Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll who raised his voice on the issue.
A source told ESPN’s Adam Schefter that Carroll called NFL owners during a meeting of general managers and coaches last week in Florida and argued that the hiring of diverse candidates will not improve until owners accept that there are candidates different from them.
On the 10-minute call, the source said of Carroll’s words: “He was saying that you can do anything, but not until the owners meet these candidates before the actual interviews and understand that they have to hire people who are different from them, will things start to change.” Team owners were less than pleased about this.
Carroll’s alleged statements come after the NFL adopted last week a new policy stating that a coach can be “a woman or a member of an ethnic or racial minority” and that they will be paid from a fund that will be shared by all of the league’s teams.
Pete Carroll has coached the Seahawks for 12 seasons and during that time none of the four offensive coordinators the team has hired have been minorities, while three of its five defensive coordinators have been African-American.
Pete Carroll and the “Rooney Rule”
The controversial statements by head coach Pete Carroll came after the NFL adjusted certain rules in the so-called “Rooney Rule”.
What was disclosed at the owners’ meeting includes adjustments to the rule enacted in 2003 and updated frequently in an attempt to improve opportunities for people of color and women for nearly all league and team jobs. As a result, and starting this season, all 32 teams must hire a woman or a member of an ethnic or racial minority to serve as an offensive assistant coach. The individual will receive a one-year contract and will work closely with the head coach and offensive staff to obtain experience.
“We recognize that we’ve seen progress on some fronts,” said Rooney, chair of the League’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee, “but we still have a ways to go on other fronts.”
The NFL also issued a resolution to increase diversity in franchise ownership and created a Diversity Advisory committee to analyze and assist teams about this issue.
The NFL saw an increase in the number of people of color in all coaching positions from 35% in 2020 to 39% by the close of 2021. In addition, the number of defensive coordinator jobs was increased from 13 to 15, setting a new high.
