Even-keeled Tony Dungy might have reached a tipping point. NBC’s Sunday Night Football Studio analyst voiced his opinion on the lack of minority hires in the recent head coach hiring circuit in multiple ways at NBC.com.
Dungy started by penning an open letter to the 32 NFL owners on the state of minority coaching hires. It reads in part:
“The problem is we are not utilizing all of our resources because we aren’t truly embracing minority hiring in every aspect of our game. Now I know there are many people who disagree with this statement. They would say, ‘Every owner is trying to win and therefore you will always hire the best people.’ But if you take a look at the hiring landscape of the last four years you will certainly come to the conclusion that is not true. And please understand this is not about one individual (Eric Bieniemy). It’s not about whether we have two Black general managers or four. It is about the mindset of finding quality leadership and utilizing ALL the talent available to the NFL. This is not a new problem and it’s one that you have fixed before. It has just taken a little work on your parts.“
Dungy also lead a roundtable on the subject for NBCSports.com. Joining Dungy, the first African-American coach to win a Super Bowl, were his former assistant Jim Caldwell, former head coach of the Colts and Lions, Atlanta Falcons President & CEO Rich McKay, and NBC’s Michael Smith.
“Ownership still is not that familiar with folks that aren’t right within their circle,” Caldwell said of NFL hiring practices. “I still think you’re finding situations, even this year, where some owners called people in the media and asked them, ‘Hey, who should I be talking to or who should we interview?’”
McKay brought up the Rooney Rule, which requires teams interview at least minority candidate for vacant head coaching positions. He said that it has not had the intended effect, but he thinks that will soon be changing.
“I believe that you’re going to be surprised, I hope, pleasantly surprised over the next four years in that I think the coordinator issue is going to look different and I think therefore our head coach issue is going to look different from a minority hiring standpoint. I’m convinced of that, but the proof will be in the pudding.”