Thread by @michaelharriot

It may seem like NFL owners just gave Black coaches a chance.

But what if I told you the GMs & owners aren't solely responsible for the lack of Black head coaches. What if this problem was caused by a group that no one ever calls out for their racism?

A thread.

https://twitter.com/theGrio/status/1509629114071887887

One of the responsibilities of a head coach is hiring people who agree with their coaching philosophy, so GMs and owners usually leave the hiring of assistant coaches to the head coach

In a league that fluctuated between 54%-72% Black over the last 33 years, white coaches accounted for 84% of new hires, while Black coaches make up less than 12 %.

Yet, the #NFLCoachesSoWhite articles rarely mention where teams are finding all of these white dudes

Of course, the young white head coaches will fill out their staff with some experienced assistant coaches, right?

Nope. They hire their inexperienced friends.

When @official_PFH did the research, here's what they found:

So how do Black NFL coaches even get a shot in the NFL?

Well, let me tell you a story.

In 1982, the Pittsburgh Steelers hired 27-year-old Tony Dungy to coach the defensive backfield. Two years later, he became the defensive coordinator. 14 years later he became a head coach.

Unfortunately, he had to take a job with a team that was known for its lack of success. They continued to be a joke in his first year but, you know... A job is a job.

To this very day, he has never had another losing season.

But this ain't about how good Dungy is at coaching

As soon as he got the job, he quietly began filling his ranks with talented Black coaches.

As soon as he got the job, he hired a position coach from KC and made him the assistant head coach. In 5 years, Herm Edwards would be named head coach of the New York Jets.

He went and got another dude out of college football and made him the linebackers coach.

Eight years later, Lovie Smith was the head coach of the Chicago Bears

He hired a young coach named Mike Tomlin and another named Jim Caldwell, both of whom became NFL head coaches.

But it wasn't just who he put on. His hires also put people on. Before Raheem Morris got his first head coaching job, he was a minority intern under Herm Edwards. Steve Wilks was a defensive coordinator under Lovie Smith before becoming HC for the Cardinals.

Leslie Frasier and Hue Jackson both worked under Marvin Lewis before they led the Vikings and the Browns respectively. Mike Tomlin hired recently fired Brian Flores after MIA let him go.

In fact, since Tony Dungy became a head coach, 16 Black men have been hired as head coaches

10 of them either worked for Dungy, or were hired by someone who previously worked for Dungy.

Remember, there are only 21 Black HCs in the history of the NFL. Literally half came through Dungy.

Dungy's coaching tree also includes white coaches like Rod Marinellin & Frank Reich.

It also begs the question:

WTF are the white coaches doing?

If one man is responsible for all the other Black coaches, then the white coaches must literally be doing ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!

There have been more white coaches in the NFL in the last 25 yrs than GMs & owners combined

THEY are the ones who aren't giving Black coaches a chance. The owners deserve to take the heat but we gotta understand that it isn't just a few billionaires who are racist, its all those coaches who slap players on the back & say "good job."

And this is not to absolve the owners. But when you look at the problem objectively, it's NOT about billionaires, powerful GMs or Roger Goodell. The people keeping Black coaches out of the NFL come from all kinds of socioeconomic backgrounds. Many never played in the NFL.

MOST of them aren't even wealthy.

They're just white.

It's the only common denominator.

That's all.