Can the Rooney Rule Survive? Should It?

The Houston Texans promoted Lovie Smith, center, to head coach on Monday. He was one of only two nonwhite coaches hired for nine open N.F.L. vacancies this off-season.Credit...Matt Patterson/Associated PressIn any given year, the hiring of new head coaches in the N.F.L. prompts hope and revival for millions of fans.

But when the most recent hiring cycle ended on Monday with the Houston Texans hiring Lovie Smith to fill the ninth and final open spot, the tally of minorities in such jobs was, to many civil rights leaders, disappointingly low.

Two of the nine vacancies, or 22 percent, were filled by minorities: Smith, who is Black, and Mike McDaniel of the Dolphins, who is biracial. That rate is…