The NFL's hiring rate of coaches of color for open coaching positions nearly doubled from 18.8 percent in 2020 to 34.6 percent in 2021, per a report from the Associated Press' Rob Maaddi detailing the league's recent 61-page demographics study.
In addition, interview requests for nonwhite candidates improved from 22 percent in 2020 to 47 percent in 2021. Twelve of the 28 coaches who received interview requests for head coaching positions were coaches of color, per Maaddi. Two of those 12 were hired—the Houston Texans' David Culley and the New York Jets' Robert Saleh.