Coaching While Black: Race, Leadership, and the National Football League

Abstract

This article examines the lack of racial diversity among the National Football League's (NFL) head coaches. Focusing on each new coaching cohort since 2013, when all eight of the newly hired head coaches were white, we contest common explanations offered by the League and many sports journalists. Specifically, we challenge the assumption that the racial homogeneity of the coaching population stems from the league's current premium on offensive-oriented coaches, who are overwhelmingly white. Through a careful examination of the experiences of every NFL head coach hired in the last nine years—prior credentials, win-loss records, job prospects if they are fired, among others—we argue that race remains a fundamental determinant in the opportunities of prospective head coaches. We therefore contend that commonly proposed solutions like expanding the Rooney Rule—a league rule established in 2003 that requires all teams to interview at least one person of color when filling a head coaching vacancy—fail to adequately account for the multitude of ways race still operates in hiring and promoting NFL coaches.