The National Football League announced Monday that all 32 teams have to hire a minority offensive assistant coach for the 2022 season.
The new hires can be “female or a member of an ethnic or racial minority,” under the new policy guidelines, according to ESPN. “The number of minorities that are interviewing for senior positions in the league has increased significantly over the last couple of years,” Steelers President and Chairman of the NFL’s diversity committee Art Rooney II said at an owners meeting press conference Monday.
Steelers president Art Rooney II, chairman of the NFL’s diversity committee, speaking at owners meetings press conference pic.twitter.com/yQcxcdxzrG
— Gerry Dulac (@gerrydulac) March 28, 2022
The NFL is also “putting together a committee to review its diversity hiring practices,” according to a statement released on the league’s official website. The committee is said to include “business leaders, academics, and former Houston Texans [General Manager] Rick Smith,” Axios reported.
“Today, the National Football League announced the creation of the NFL Diversity Advisory Committee, following its pledge last month to retain outside experts to review the league’s diversity policies and practices,” the league’s statement read. “The six-member committee will lend its expert, external perspective on industry best practices and will evaluate league and club diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) strategies and initiatives, including all hiring processes, policies and procedures, with a primary focus on senior-level coach and front office personnel positions.”
There are only five minority head coaches in the league at present, according to ESPN. The league was sued earlier this year by a former Dolphin coach, Brian Flores, who accused the NFL of racial discrimination, Axios continued. (RELATED: Shannon Sharpe: ‘I Would Have Whooped Will Smith’s Ass’)
“We’ve worked for years and made progress in many areas to ensure that staff and leaders in our office and at our clubs reflect the racial and gender makeup of America, but we have more work to do, particularly at the head coach and front-office level,” the league noted.