PALM BEACH, FLA. – The NFL will pay up to $200,000 for each team to add a minority or female coach to its offensive staff in 2022 as part of a new initiative to provide more opportunities for diverse coaching candidates this season.
NFL announces diversity, equity and inclusion initiative
The league will pay teams up to $200,000 to add a minority or female coach to its offensive staff in 2022.
March 29, 2022 at 2:23AM
Under the new program, the new offensive assistant (who must have at least three years of college or professional coaching experience) will receive a one-year contract and work closely with each team's head coach and offensive staff. The league will reimburse teams for up to 50% of the coach's salary for as long as two years.
"In recent years, head coaches have predominantly had offensive backgrounds," the league said Monday in a memo announcing the new program. "We believe this resolution will assist greatly in continuing to source and identify diverse candidates earlier in their career."
The league also expanded the Rooney Rule, allowing teams to satisfy its requirements by interviewing women for head coaching jobs. In the past, teams had to interview at least two external candidates of color for a head coach position; teams can now meet the requirements by interviewing either female coaches or minority coaches. Only in-person interviews will satisfy the Rooney Rule.
The NFL pointed to progress in diversifying front offices and coaching staffs this offseason, citing an increase in the number of minority coaches (from 35% to 39% of all coaching staffs) and minority general managers (from five to seven, including new Vikings GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah).
But the league ended the 2022 hiring cycle with only two of the nine open head coaching jobs going to minorities (the Texans' Lovie Smith, who is Black, and the Dolphins' Mike McDaniel, who is multiracial).
Former Dolphins coach Brian Flores also sued the NFL and three teams (Denver, Miami and the New York Giants) in February, alleging discrimination in the league's hiring practices. Pro Football Talk reported this week that two plaintiffs will be added to Flores' lawsuit in early April.
"While improvements have led to increased opportunities for minority candidates, the results are disappointing among head coaches and offensive coordinators," the league's memo read.
Mike Conley was in Minneapolis, where he sounded the Gjallarhorn at the Vikings game, on Sunday during the robbery.
