Pittsburgh Steelers president Art Rooney II issued a statement Thursday on the state of the Rooney Rule two days after former Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores filed a lawsuit against the NFL and three teams, alleging a pattern of racist hiring practices by the league and racial discrimination.
Rooney said he would not comment on the specific allegations made by Flores, but did choose to address "the general state of affairs in regard to Diversity policies" in the NFL.
"Over the past several years, our Diversity Committee has recommended, and Ownership has adopted, a number of enhancements to the Rooney Rule as well as new policies and fair consideration for coaching and front office positions," Rooney said. "The details of these enhancements and new policies have previously been made available.
"While I acknowledge that we have not seen progress in the ranks of Head Coaches, we have seen marked improvement in the hiring of women and minorities in other key leadership roles such as Coordinator positions, General manger positions, and front office positions both in and out of football operations. I believe this progress has been made as a result of the implementation of many of the enhance policies that were recently adopted.
"The Commissioner and League Executives, as well as the Diversity Committee, remain committed to working with all clubs, the Fritz Pollard Alliance, and others in making these efforts as effective as possible and building upon them to promote the desired impacts on hiring decisions in the League at all levels, including Head Coach positions."
The Rooney Rule, a hiring policy established by the NFL in 2003 and named after Dan Rooney, former Steelers owner and chairman of the NFL's diversity committee, was adjusted this past October. Among the notable changes were an increase in the number of external minority candidates required to be interviewed during a hiring process for executive and coordinator positions and allowing teams to interview a candidate for an open head coach position during the final two weeks of the regular season with the consent of the employer club.
Under the enhanced Rooney Rule, clubs are required to interview at least two external minority candidates for general manager/EVP of football operations, and for all open coordinator roles (offense, defense and special teams). The NFL also required franchises to conduct an in-person interview for at least one external minority candidate for any head coach or general manager opening.
In 2020, the NFL amended the Rooney Rule to stipulate teams must interview at least two minority candidates not associated with their own team for a head coaching vacancy. Also, one minority candidate has to be interviewed for coordinator positions as well as high-ranking positions in the front office, including the general manager role.
Flores, who is Black, was fired last month by Miami after leading the Dolphins to a 24-25 record over three years. They went 9-8 in their second straight winning season, but failed to make the playoffs during his tenure.
Flores' lawsuit alleges that the league has discriminated against him and other Black coaches for racial reasons, denying them positions as head coaches, offensive and defensive coordinators and quarterbacks coaches, as well as general managers. Flores alleged in the lawsuit that he went on "sham" interviews with the Broncos and Giants in 2019 and 2022, respectively, conducted only to fulfill the Rooney Rule.
The NFL said in a Tuesday statement that it would "defend against these claims, which are without merit." The Dolphins, Denver Broncos and New York Giants, the three teams named by Flores in the suit, have all denied the allegations made by Flores.
There is currently one Black head coach (Mike Tomlin) and three minority head coaches (Tomlin, Ron Rivera, Robert Saleh) employed by the 32 NFL teams. Four teams are currently without a head coach. Of the five head coaches hired or expected to be hired so far this cycle, all are white. Of the four general managers hired this cycle, two are Black and two are white.
