The NFL recently spoke about an idea — that has since been tabled for discussion — that would have rewarded teams for hiring a minority candidate.
Herm Edwards, a former head coach in the NFL and current head coach at Arizona State, warns the NFL about incentivizing hiring minority candidates with draft picks.
“The first thing that came to my mind was, ‘What does that look like?’” Edwards told the New York Post about the NFL's proposal. “What does that even sound like? This is the National Football League. This is supposed to be the standard bearer of how things are done. And to incentivize people for not only interviewing guys but hiring guys? No one wants that. I don’t blame any owner for hiring whoever he wants to hire. But to incentivize it, it just makes it awkward, man. You don’t want to get hired under that cloud. It’s bad for the league, it’s bad for the coach, it’s just bad for football.”
The NFL undoubtedly realizes that there is an issue with the current Rooney Rule. Of the 32 teams that comprise the NFL, only four of them employ minority head coaches.
As a result, the NFL recently held meetings to make changes to the Rooney Rule. Instead of rewarding draft picks, teams are now required to interview more external minority candidates in coaching and GM searches.
If the NFL chose to reward draft picks for hiring minority candidates, the candidate that was hired would feel like they weren't hired legitimately. Then, it would likely lead to a slippery slope that the NFL would not want to go down. Just like Edwards stated, “It's bad for the league”.
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