Thread by @MiamiHerald

IN TODAY’S MIAMI HERALD: Our reimagined newspaper features an in-depth look at the allegations of widespread racial discrimination in the NFL’s hiring process by former Miami Dolphins coach Brian Flores in his explosive lawsuit. 🧵

The league does not publish the data necessary to analyze why increasing diversity in the interviewing process has not produced a more diverse coaching staff — namely, data on everyone who interviews for head coaching jobs.

The Miami Herald is doing so. miamiherald.com/sports/nfl/mia…

The Herald compiled a dataset showing each candidate who interviewed for at least one of the 17 openings for NFL head coaching jobs filled since 2020. Four other jobs had not been filled as of Saturday afternoon.

The data shed light not just on who is being hired, but also on who is being passed up for the NFL’s top coaching spots — in some cases repeatedly.

The Herald’s analysis, which did not factor in the unfilled jobs, found that one out of every three white coaches who interviewed for an opening was hired as a head coach at some point in the past two years.

In comparison, one out of every six coaches of color interviewed was hired in that same time frame. That was the case even though the coaches of color had more years of NFL experience on average.

The Herald found 49 people who have interviewed a total of 110 times for the 17 head coaching positions filled since 2020.

Although based on a single snapshot in time, the Herald’s data showed indications of racial discrimination in the NFL’s hiring process for head coaches, experts who reviewed the Herald’s data said.

▪ Of the 49 interviewees, 33% were people of color, and 65% were white. In one case, ethnicity could not be determined.
▪ Only three people of color were hired as head coaches, filling only 18% of the head coaching openings. They were David Culley, Ron Rivera, and Robert Saleh.

▪ Interviewees of color had an average of 22 years of NFL experience, while white interviewees had an average of 15 years. Of those who were hired, coaches of color had an average of 25 years of NFL experience, while white coaches had an average of only 13 years of experience.

▪ Candidates of all races who were ultimately hired as a head coach interviewed for an average of three openings. But of those who weren’t hired, the candidates of color still interviewed for an average of three jobs while the white coaches interviewed for only one.

“This is opening the spotlight on something that is really important,” said Richard Lapchick, director the Institute for Diversity & Ethics in Sport at the University of Central Florida, after reviewing the Herald’s data.

Coaches of color struggle to get second chances as head coaches in the NFL — opportunities routinely afforded to white coaches.

And no Black coach has ever led three NFL teams as head coach. White coaches like Bill Parcells and Marty Schottenheimer have coached as many as four.

Even without filing a lawsuit against his former employer, Flores and his 18 years of NFL experience may not be enough to get him a second job.

Years of experience don’t always correlate to successful head coaches, experts caution, saying that recently decision makers have seemed to give more weight to experience in a specific role.

No coach has interviewed for more jobs in the past two years than Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy, the Herald found.

Bieniemy — who is Black and helped lead the Chiefs to a Super Bowl victory in 2020, as well as another shot at the title this year — has sat down for at least nine interviews in the past two years.

He still has not gotten a head coaching job.

“His case is a perfect example of the reluctance of teams to hire Black head coaches,” Lapchick said. “He is eminently qualified and would be a great head coach and it hasn’t happened.”

“We are still looking for that grace to be afforded to Coach Bieniemy that has been afforded” to white coaches, said Troy Vincent, the NFL’s executive vice president of football operations, while appearing on ESPN. “He’s gone to a fourth straight [conference] championship game.”

Visit our website or eEdition to read more.
You can find all of our coverage here: miamiherald.com/e-edition/today

We invite you to take a look at the reimagined Miami Herald, and consider supporting local journalists with a subscription: account.miamiherald.com/subscribe