PITTSBURGH — Mike Tomlin appeared on HBO’s “Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel” last week and said the lack of minority coaches being hired for head jobs in the NFL remains “unacceptable.”
A follow-up call seemed to be in order.
Tomlin was eager to take it.
“I normally don’t talk publicly during the offseason, but this is a critical issue for us,” Tomlin said. “As important as this is for us in the NFL, it’s also important for us as a society. It deserves all the attention it gets.”
Another hiring cycle has come and gone in the NFL with a Black coach getting just one of seven open head jobs despite the fact that more than 60% of the league’s players are Black. The Houston Texans hired Baltimore Ravens assistant head coach David Culley, making him one of only three Black head coaches in the league, joining Tomlin and Miami’s Brian Flores. Another Black head coach, Anthony Lynn, was fired by the Los Angeles Chargers after last season.
When the Steelers hired Tomlin in 2007, there were four other Black head coaches in the NFL — Tony Dungy, Herman Edwards, Marvin Lewis and Lovie Smith. Now, 14 years later, there are three. Of the 27 head-coaching vacancies the past four years, only three went to Black coaches.
That’s progress?
No, that’s regression.
“I don’t have an answer for you as to how to make it better,” Tomlin said. “The optimist in me says things will get better, but there’s been no evidence in the recent cycles to back that up. Without evidence, all we have is hope. We just haven’t been able to move the needle.”
Tomlin talked on “Real Sports’ about former Black head coaches Lewis, Jim Caldwell, Todd Bowles and Raheem Morris not being able to get a second chance. On that same show, Lewis, the former long-time Cincinnati Bengals head coach, mentioned Bruce Arians, a white coach who led the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to a Super Bowl win last season after they recycled him. “I’m younger than he is,” Lewis said.
During our conversation, Tomlin singled out Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy, who interviewed for six of the seven openings this year.
“Bieniemy is a real head-scratcher for me,” Tomlin said. “Every offensive coordinator Andy Reid has had in the last 20 years got a head job. One of those guys, Brad Childress, hired me in Minnesota in 2006. Now, Andy has the best offense he’s ever had and [Bieniemy] can’t get a job?”
Buccaneers offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich is another Black coach with strong credentials. He wasn’t interviewed for a head job during this cycle despite doing impressive work with Tom Brady. He played for Tomlin as Ben Roethlisberger’s backup in 2008 and 2010-12.
A head position should be the next step for a coordinator.
It should be noted that Tomlin has not had a Black coordinator with the Steelers. He interviewed Black coaches Hue Jackson and Pep Hamilton for his offensive coordinator’s position last month but ended up promoting his quarterback coach, Matt Canada.
“I always do what is best for our organization,” Tomlin said. “I believe in hiring from within in most cases. ...
“I’m highly sensitive to it, but I don’t regret [not having a Black coordinator]. I’ve had some good [Black] coaches leave for other jobs. Ray Horton. Scottie Montgomery went back to college. Kirby Wilson was hurt in that house fire.”
Tomlin, speaking from his home where he is recovering from “minimal” symptoms after testing positive for COVID-19, dismissed the hiring of three Black general managers by NFL clubs during the recent cycle as significant progress. That makes five in the league. The Washington Football Team also hired Jason Wright as team president, making him the first Black man to hold that position in the NFL.
“GM is a nice title, but I’m not sure it means the same thing with every team,” Tomlin said. “You’re talking about 32 different companies. There’s no latitude with a head coach. Everyone knows what our job is.”
Tomlin has heard repeatedly he was hired by the Steelers because of the Rooney rule, named after late, great team owner Dan Rooney. At the time, that rule required every NFL team to interview a minority candidate for its head coaching opening.
“Maybe the Rooney Rule got my name on the original list, but it didn’t get me in the door,” Tomlin said. “My presence wasn’t necessary to satisfy the rule. Ron Rivera did that. Those words came from Ambassador Rooney’s mouth.”
Tomlin, despite being the winningest Black head coach in NFL history, winning seven division titles in 14 seasons and never having a losing season, still is widely criticized in Pittsburgh. Some of the criticism is deserved. The Steelers have won just three playoff games since their most recent Super Bowl appearance in 2010 and have collapsed late in the past four seasons. But some of the criticism is race-based. Tomlin never will satisfy the racists out there no matter what he or his team does. Even when the Steelers won the Super Bowl in 2008, his second season, he heard he won with Bill Cowher’s players.
It was nonsense.
“It’s irrelevant to me,” Tomlin said. “I just do my job the best I can with class and honor. I can’t fight the hate. I can’t win that fight. Especially now, with social media, there are a lot of people who live in dark places where the hate grows and festers. I don’t deal with it. I don’t worry about it.”
Tomlin said this issue goes far beyond football.
“Hate is winning in 2021,” he said. “What we saw in 2020 as a society is proof of that. That’s why it’s hard for me to be optimistic. I have sons who are young men now. They are facing the same situations that I did when I was their age. We’ve gone a generation without improvement.
“If you are against hate, stand up and be heard because your silence is contributing to it.”
