What Is the Rooney Rule in the NFL? Patriots Coach Hunt Revives Debate Over Hiring Rule
"Black head coaches have a higher winning percentage than their white NFL counterparts, but were still more likely to be fired."
Published Jan. 10 2025, 9:42 a.m. ET
The NFL's regular season has come to a dramatic conclusion, and it's playoffs season. With teams vying for top spots and keeping their eyes fixed on the Super Bowl, it's a high-stakes time of year when players are making big moves, coaches are making big plans, and fans are making big predictions.
In the midst of all the chaos and jockeying for top spots, one sports team is working hard to pick a new coach after letting theirs go. But in their efforts to pick a new coach, some have accused them of violating something known as the Rooney Rule. So what is this rule, how is it being broken, and should the rule even exist to begin with? Here's the scoop.
What is the Rooney Rule in the NFL?
The NFL has never had a team owned by a single principal Black owner. There have been many Black co-owners, but the overall vibe among NFL team owners is pretty darn white. This has led some to suggest that owners tend to hire coaches who look more like them, regardless of talent.
After the 2001 and 2002 seasons, the firing of two successful Black coaches prompted civil rights attorneys to get into statistics among coaches in the NFL and the behavior of team owners.
The investigation they launched found that "compared statistically, Black head coaches have a higher winning percentage than their white NFL counterparts, but were still more likely to be fired" (excerpt via NBC New York).
After seeing the results of this investigation, agents, coaches, front office personnel, and players began pressuring the NFL to make a rule counteracting what they considered to be a lack of attention to silent racism and the need for protecting diversity in the league.
Thus the Rooney Rule was implemented. Initially, it required that all NFL teams must interview at least one minority candidate for head coaching openings. Since its inception, the rule has expanded to other positions in the league as well.
Patriots hunt for a new coach and find themselves accused of ignoring the vital hiring rule.
Now, fans and some sports historians are in a bit of an uproar after they say that the New England Patriots are side-stepping the rule in their hunt for a new coach.
The team fired head coach Jared Mayo immediately after the 2024 season wrapped and began their hunt. Almost immediately after that, Mike Vrabel became the whispered favorite to succeed Mayo. Although there had been buzz about Vrabel taking the position since long before Mayo was fired, the team ostensibly followed the rule when they interviewed Byron Leftwich and Pep Hamilton.
Yet some experts say it's not enough and they're just paying lip service through the interviews.
On social media, it has reignited a debate about the rule itself. Some people say it goes too far and that it pursues diversity at the expense of excellence.
Others say the rule doesn't go far enough and permits teams to pay lip service to the rule while hiring who they wanted to in the first place, regardless of who shakes down as the most qualified coach during the interview process.
With so much at stake, Vrabel's imminent hiring with the Patriots is falling under a shadow of suspicion, doubt, and accusations that once again the NFL has failed to address the needs of their diverse league professionals and fans.