It’s no surprise that the Rooney Rule has been highly contested over the last few years. The rule, put in place to allow ethnic-minority candidates to interview for head coaching and senior football operation jobs, has been under tremendous scrutiny over the last decade. Currently there are only four minority head coaches (Mike Tomlin, Ron Rivera, Brian Flores, and Anthony Lynn), and two minority General Managers (Chris Grier and Andrew Berry). The quest to improve diversity when it comes to organizational leadership is something the NFL has looked to solve this year.
What has normally happened when it comes to the Rooney Rule is that most Owners or General Managers will either pick a candidate that is friends with the decision-makers or just interview a minority candidate to satisfy the rule and actually not consider that person for the position at all.