After this season's Black Monday in the NFL saw five of the league's eight minority coaches handed their walking papers, a group is hoping to rectify the system.
The Fritz Pollard Alliance _ a group that works with the NFL on hiring practices _ is planning to ask the league at next month's scouting combine to add two positions per team to help grow the number of minorities in the league's ranks.
The thinking behind the policy is that it will help minority coaches get into the coaching pipeline, giving them opportunities "toward becoming position coaches, offensive and defensive coordinators and, eventually, head coaches."
"It's very obvious to us all that if you're going to build a pipeline, you must follow the procedure that we're outlining," said John Wooten, the group's chairman, told the Washington Post on Wednesday. "I'm not talking about (coaching) internships. I'm talking about putting them in positions where they're going to have opportunities to advance. This should be done because this is what the league is about. The league is about opportunity. We know the road that we must travel."
The NFL's Rooney Rule was recently updated to giving minority coaches a better opportunity.
Currently, no minority coaches have been hired to fill any of the available positions. Rumors are swirling that the Miami Dolphins will hire New England Patriots linebackers coach Brian Flores as their head coach after the Super Bowl.
It's still unclear if the NFL will actually comply with the alliance's request.
At the beginning of the season, there were eight minority head coaches in the NFL until Todd Bowles (Jets), Hue Jackson (Cleveland Browns), Marvin Lewis (Cincinnati Bengals), Vance Joseph (Denver Broncos) and Steve Wilks (Arizona Cardinals) were fired.
The alliance's request comes at a time when racial issues in the NFL appear to be widening.
"White Americans prefer white NFL stars _ a preference that has gotten stronger since some players began protesting during the national anthem. Among whites without a college education, black players' popularity dropped _ even if an individual player did not protest," according to a recent analysis published by the Washington Post.
A report from "The Undefeated" also revealed that minority coaches are leading winning teams more often than white coaches, while also landing on the hot seat more often than their white counterparts.
Earlier this week, Philadelphia 76ers co-owner Michael Rubin and New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft joined a group of influential names in sports, business and entertainment _ such as Jay Z and Meek Mill _ in announcing the Reform Alliance that will highlight problems in the criminal justice system, while also shining a light on the social and racial inequalities within the system.
