Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin is one of just three black head coaches in the NFL, and Tomlin is not too thrilled about it.
Over the last 15 coaches hired by NFL teams, only two of them are black, and this offseason, Brian Flores of the Miami Dolphins was the only African-American coach who landed a job.
“I think the numbers speak for themselves in that regard,” Tomlin said, according to Gerry Dulac of The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “It was a disappointing hiring cycle for someone who watches it like I do, knowing some of the deserving men I do who I thought should have gotten an opportunity and didn’t. But we’ll continue to work and fight for equality and opportunity.”
Tomlin added that he hopes the process changes soon and that he feels the league is working toward that.
“I think that’s what the Rooney Rule speaks to, equality within the opportunity,” Tomlin said. “We’ll continue to fight for that, not only in terms of head coaching searches, but maybe other areas of the profession as well. I know there’s some discussions in the offseason regarding some of that.”
Of course, the “Rooney Rule” is named after former Steelers owner Dan Rooney, who hired Tomlin back in 2007. Rooney passed away two years ago, and since then, the pool of black coaches has thinned.
Since taking over the Steelers, Tomlin has gone 125-66-1, leading Pittsburgh to eight playoff appearances and taking the team all the way to a Super Bowl title during his second year at the helm.
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