Dungy and Edwards in Tampa Bay

16 seasons ago, the Rooney Rule was instituted in the NFL. At the time there were just two African American head coaches in the NFL: Tony Dungy of the Colts and his former assistant, Herm Edwards of the Jets.

Today, there are… just three African American head coaches in the NFL.  Mike Tomlin, hired by the Steelers in 2007, Anthony Lynn, hired by the Chargers in ’17, and newly-hired Brian Flores, who comes to Miami after a stint as the linebackers coach and de facto defensive coordinator/play caller in New England in 2018.

One big reason that Tomlin and Lynn are still around: they went to teams with Ben Roethlisberger and Philip Rivers. Other minority head coaches — and, of course, white coaches — haven’t been nearly so lucky.

There has been a lot written over the last two months about the lack of African American head coaches in the NFL, especially after five were fired in the last few months. This is a complicated topic with a simple reality: African American coaches have been stuck with bad quarterbacks and subsequently fired.

Arizona’s Steve Wilks was fired after one season with Josh Rosen at quarterback, who was the worst statistical passer in 2018. Denver’s Vance Joseph was fired this year after winning 11 games in two seasons in Denver with Trevor Siemian, Brock Osweiler, Paxton Lynch and Case Keenum as his quarterbacks. Cleveland’s Hue Jackson was finally fired in 2018 on the basis of a 1-31 mark in ’16 and ’17 with Cody Kessler, Josh McCown, and a 21-year-old DeShone Kizer. And in New York, Todd Bowles was fired after four years with the Jets, coaching Ryan Fitzpatrick, Josh McCown, Bryce Petty, and a 21-year-old Sam Darnold. [continue reading…]