When it comes to diversity in coaching, nothing will change in the NFL because nothing will change in the NFL.
Teams will go through the formality of the Rooney Rule and bring in a high-profile black candidate to interview for a head coach gig. Teams will go through the motions and act like they are taking the candidate seriously, before hiring a white candidate. Lather, rinse, repeat. If they hire a black candidate, the margin for error is razor-thin and they don’t get the same leeway as their white counterparts.
None of the aforementioned is new. This is all common knowledge, but these practices don’t describe how egregious the NFL is. Allegedly Brian Flores, who is filed a class-action lawsuit against the league and its 32 franchises citing racial discrimination, had incentives to lose games. Grambling Head Coach Hue Jackson says while he wasn’t explicitly incentivized to lose games, he did receive end-of-season bonus money for fielding a young team and stockpiling draft picks. It was a four-year plan.
It’s great that Flores has support from Jackson and others. However, real change won’t come from this unless current players are willing to lend support to this cause. This class-action suit, in of itself, isn’t moving the needle in terms of change. Current players need to offer their support and it needs to be unwavering. The players proved that they can’t unite and stay on code during Kaepernick. They even proved they cant unite and stay on code during the strikes of 1982 and 1987 when players crossed the picket line.
In order for this suit to have legs, there will have to be some players willing to risk what they have. There has to be some current coaches who are ready to risk what they have. In a league where there are no guaranteed contracts, it’s going to be difficult to convince players and coaches to go against the shield, but that’s what needs to be done.
Flores is brave to battle the league. What he’s doing is admirable. However, he might need to recruit more reinforcements. If not, look for nothing to change other than the possibility of Flores being blackballed and not coaching another down in the NFL again.
