PITTSBURGH _ There are currently just four minority head coaches in the NFL. The Steelers' Mike Tomlin is one of them, and he'd like that number to grow.
Speaking Monday during a Facebook Live interview with Kentucky basketball coach John Calipari, Tomlin backed a shelved NFL proposal that would have incentivized teams to hire minority candidates by rewarding them with improved draft position.
"We've always taken it from the approach of, punitive if you don't interview minority candidates or things of that nature," Tomlin said as part of the Moon, Pa., native's "Coffee with Cal" series. "I just like the different approach in terms of spinning it 180 and talking about maybe incentivizing those that develop the talent and those that hire the talent."
The league last week opted to expand its existing Rooney Rule _ named after late Steelers owner Dan Rooney _ that requires teams to interview minority candidates for openings. Tomlin favors that change.
"We've got to acknowledge first, just in a blanket statement, that we have a problem with minority hiring specifically in football," Tomlin said.
"Specifically with the Rooney Rule, we're making some adjustments because we're acknowledging right now that the system is broken, that minorities are not getting enough opportunities, and we're trying to just figure out how to stimulate that."
Toward that end, Tomlin feels discussion of the draft proposal was worthwhile. Though it was roundly criticized in some quarters, Tomlin hopes it changed the nature of the dialogue on the topic. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said last week that just because the draft proposal was tabled doesn't mean the league's owners were against it.
The Rooney Rule that's been on the books for years required teams to interview at least one minority candidate for head coaching jobs, but it did not give teams that did any advantage for doing so.
The expanded rule doubles the number of external minority candidates who must be interviewed for head coaching positions. Teams will also be required to interview at least one minority candidate for any of the three coordinator vacancies and at least one external minority candidate for the senior football operations or general manager position.
