Art Rooney II defends NFL diversity measures amid…

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When the NFL implemented the Rooney Rule two decades ago, the league was widely praised for taking a concrete step to increase diversity among its head coaches. But as the league faces renewed scrutiny about a lack of diversity amid the lawsuit brought by former Dolphins head coach Brian Flores, the Rooney Rule is taking criticism for being little more than window dressing.

Steelers owner Art Rooney II, whose late father Dan Rooney was the driving force behind the Rooney Rule, released a statement today defending the rule and the league’s commitment to diversity even while acknowledging that the league’s head-coaching ranks are no more diverse now than when the rule was adopted.

“Over the past several years, our Diversity Committee has recommended, and Ownership has adopted, a number of enhancements to the Rooney Rule as well as new policies and fair consideration for coaching and front office positions,” Rooney said. “The details of these enhancements and new policies have previously been made available.

“While I acknowledge that we have not seen progress in the ranks of Head Coaches, we have seen marked improvement in the hiring of women and minorities in other key leadership roles such as Coordinator positions, General Manger positions, and front office positions both in and out of football operations. I believe this progress has been made as a result of the implementation of many of the enhance policies that were recently adopted.

“The Commissioner and League Executives, as well as the Diversity Committee, remain committed to working with all clubs, the Fritz Pollard Alliance, and others in making these efforts as effective as possible and building upon them to promote the desired impacts on hiring decisions in the League at all levels, including Head Coach positions.”

The Rooney Rule requires NFL teams to interview minority candidates before filling head-coaching vacancies, but minority coaches are increasingly speaking out and saying that they’ve been invited to interviews that are nothing more than shams. The rule may have been well-intentioned, but it hasn’t accomplished what it set out to do.