The NFL has come under fire recently from the Black community. Brian Flores, a former coach of the Miami Dolphins, filed a lawsuit against the league that claims he was a victim of racial discrimination, among other complaints. Because of this, the lack of diversity amongst NFL coaches has been a point of interest.
Nate McMillan, a Black head coach in the NBA, offered up his thoughts on the NFL coaching issues. He says that the lack of diversity in the league's coaching ranks is not a “sports issue”. (via Mavs.com)
“This is not a sports issue. It’s a society issue that the opportunities sometimes certain people, they don’t get the opportunities because of the color of their skin. With the NBA, we seem to have given those opportunities to some black coaches and they’ve had some success doing it.”
Indeed, the NBA has done a significantly better job at having diversity in their coaching ranks. Out of the 30 teams today, 14 of them are Black, with some of them being some of the best in the league. The NFL, on the other hand, only have 1 out of 32 teams: Pittsburgh Steelers' Mike Tomlin.
The NBA and the NFL are similar in that a large of their player population is Black. However, the coaching staff tells a different story. There were plenty of well-respected Black candidates in this year's NFL offseason (Byron Leftwich, Todd Bowles, Brian Flores). However, only one was hired: Mike McDaniel, who signed a deal with the Dolphins today.
Fixing the NFL's lack of Black coaches (or even just diversifying the coaches) is a tough proposition. However, acknowledging that it's a problem is the first step in finding the solution.
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