NFL continues to fumble minority hiring
To say, “Here we go again” is almost an annual tradition when it comes to the NFL hiring minority head coaches. And yes, owners have again fumbled.
With 10 head coaching openings this season, to date no minorities have been hired.
As a matter of fact, the same pool of minority coaches has yet to even have a second interview.
Tim Lewis, Donnie Henderson, Ron Rivera, Ted Cottrell and Mike Singletary have all found the sledding to be tougher than anyone ever imagined. On the heels of the most successful year African American coaches have ever had with Lovie Smith in Chicago, Marvin Lewis in Cincinnati and Tony Dungy in Indianapolis — all winning there respective divisions — you would have thought this would be the year when some owner would continue the trend.
So far, that has not been the case. Instead the owners have elected to now hire people who pale when it comes to the experience many of the minority coaches have acquired over the years.
It was not long ago that the gold standard was that you had to be a coordinator to even get an interview. Next, it was a need for interviewing experience.
Now neither seems to apply. Both Lewis and Henderson have been coordinators, while Singletary carries the title of assistant head coach. Not good enough when you have the likes of the Green Bay, Detroit, New York Jets, Dallas and Minnesota hires. These new coaches have a combined total of five years coordinating experience and just two years of experience with an assistant head coach title. No matter how you stack it, it does not add up to and acceptable number.
You will surely hear the excuse makers come up will all the reasons why it’s “not a black-white thing.” After all, minorities should be happy with what they have, according to them. Not so folks. The league now has a new direction that contradicts all previous edicts. Hire them young, no matter how little they know, or how little time they have been in the NFL.
In the past there have been some young coaches that had little experience in the league and have enjoyed good careers. It’s now time to extend that invitation to minorities. And when they do, make sure it is not the one and done. For once I would like to see more than Dungy and Dennis Green get a second chance after they fail so they could proudly go into the category of “recycled coaches.”
Officiating?
There has been a lot of talk lately how the NFL officials blow a call here and there. It has even become a sticking point at other levels of sport be it high school college or professional.
In some cases officials miss calls. There is a miniscule group that range from being incompetent to being cheaters. Yeah it happens.
In most games, though, you get people who show up to give the best effort possible to officiate a game. Sometimes the results might not indicate that because someone always loses.
The question I have always asked is why don’t fans, coaches and parents climb on their team more when they miss a block that results in a sack? Surely it is not the ref’s fault when there are kids on the floor who cannot execute a play or continue to shoot and miss. Yet fans blame refs because someone was playing better defense than their team could play offense. The whining these days is so one sided that it has become a distraction. Yes bad officiating of the real nature is a contributor, but give me a break. It cannot always be the ref’s fault, could it? Get off the refs. Quit hatin’ and figure how you can be a better player coach and fan. That way we can all enjoy the games more.
