The american football league (NFL) will seek independent advice to revise its rules of recruiting coacheswho have failed to achieve a greater diversity of profiles in this position, the commissioner promised on Wednesday Roger Goodell.
Goodell’s message comes a week after brian flowersrecently removed as head coach of the Miami Dolphins, will file a lawsuit accusing the NFL and three of its franchises of racist hiring practices and of racial discrimination.
In his press conference prior to the superbowl Sunday, Goodell said nothing “will be off the table” in the hiring policy review.
“I think we’ve made great progress in many areas, but with the head coaches we have a lot of work to do and we have to figure it out,” the commissioner said at the sofi stadium of Los Angeles (California), headquarters of the superbowl Come in rams Y Bengals.
“For me, this is an opportunity for us to step back, look at what we’re doing and see how what we’re doing can lead to better results,” he argued.
Flores’ explosive accusations once again put the magnifying glass on the flagrant shortage of African American coaches or belonging to other minorities in the NFL, a league with about 70% black players.
Only two of the 32 head coaching positions in the NFL are held by African-Americans, while in the NBA the number is around half.
In his appearance, Goodell acknowledged that the so-called “Rooney rule,” which requires franchises to interview at least one minority candidate for head coaching jobs, had only succeeded in bringing African-American coaches “into the interviews”.
“What we want to see are the results,” he stressed.
The process could include revising the Rooney rule or removing it altogether, Goodell said. “We’re going to have independent people come in and help us evaluate it,” he stressed.