Beyond the Rooney Rule: NFLPA wants to improve landscape for minority candidates

As players knelt, raised a fist or otherwise engaged in protests during the national anthem in an attempt to continue the fight for racial and social equality, the question kept coming up.

Beyond protests, what can be done to address these issues?

Players asked themselves, and some team officials asked their players. The NFL and the Players Coalition met over how to handle the protests and assist their communities.

The NFL Players Association asked the question as well, engaging both current and former players in a dialogue.

A need for equality in the workplace was one of the most common refrains raised in the discussions. For former players trying to climb the coaching ranks, it’s a common problem.

NFL STATS CENTRAL: The latest NFL scores, schedules, odds, stats and more.

Since the implementation of the Rooney Rule in 2003, NFL teams have been required to have a meaningful interview with a minority candidate for every head coaching opening. In 2009, the league expanded it to include general manager and equivalent front-office positions. When a head coach already is in place, teams must interview a minority for a vacant coordinator position.

More:USA TODAY Sports' Week 11 NFL picks

But minority candidates still remain far behind their white counterparts in the opportunities granted to them. Progress has been made. But many of those whom the hiring practice was designed to help expressed concern to the union that advancements have been insufficient, and the system needs to be modified.

Some of the former players who have transitioned into coaching told the NFLPA they would like to see stronger accountability and enforcement if teams don’t truly adhere to the Rooney Rule.

The NFLPA wants to play a role in finding a remedy. Part of that involves the union’s desire for strategic partnership with the NFL to help improve diversity in the coaching ranks.

“When it comes to advocacy, we’ve never shied away from it,” said NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith, who pointed out that the union has spoken out for both the rights of college athletes and referees during contract disputes. “And certainly, the players that brought attention to the issues that they wanted to raise, it reminded us that there are additional fights to be fought as well.”

The Rooney Rule has indeed prompted improvement.

In 2003, minorities held just three of the 32 head coaching jobs. Now eight are in that position, tying a high set in 2011. However, just 11 minorities hold coordinator positions this year, down from the 13 who held such a role in 2003.

While Anthony Lynn (Chargers) and Vance Joseph (Broncos) joined the ranks of Marvin Lewis (Bengals), Ron Rivera (Panthers), Hue Jackson (Browns), Jim Caldwell (Detroit), Todd Bowles (Jets) and Mike Tomlin (Steelers), the rate at which people of color have filled head-coaching positions has not been encouraging. Minorities constitute just 18% of the current head-coaching and coordindator positions — marking just a 2% increase from the year that the Rooney Rule was instituted.

But John Wooten, the chairman of the Fritz Pollard Alliance, the diversity group that works closely with the league on hiring practices, is encouraged from the progress.

“I think if you’ve been keeping up and watching what’s going on, and I’m only speaking to the NFL, you have to be very enthused about what you’ve seen,” Wooten told USA Today on Thursday. “You’ve seen new coaches, new front office executives. You’ve seen a new move on the playing field as it relates to game day officials. So, I think it’s going quite well.”

The Fritz Pollard Alliance staff spends the year scouting candidates and keeping tabs on potential vacancies. Every December, Wooten and his associates meet with the league and go over projected coaching vacancies, and the group makes recommendations for coaches deserving of consideration.

In the NFL, friends often turn to friends on hires because teams frequently prefer familiar candidates. Nepotism also runs strong. Without the Fritz Pollard Alliance and Rooney Rule, many minorities might have missed out on opportunities now afforded to them.

But there’s another problem with the existing system: It’s impossible for the Fritz Pollard Alliance to know about every promising minority assistant coach. Critics of the league and its hiring practices believe that teams far too often use the group as its clearinghouse in lieu of research.

If a candidate doesn’t have a relationship with the Fritz Pollard Alliance, it’s easy for him to fly under the radar. Four different black position coaches – all former players – polled for this piece said they either were unfamiliar with the Fritz Pollard Alliance, or had no contacts within the organization.

Troy Vincent, the NFL’s executive vice president of football operations, who helps oversee efforts to ensure diversity, agreed that more must be done.

Vincent said that the league would welcome a partnership with the NFLPA on this front. He also pointed to a recent partnership the NFL has built with historically black colleges and the NCAA to help build a stronger pipeline to the assistant coaching ranks.

“The Rooney Rule provides a point of entry, but to solve the long-term conundrum of opportunities verses the number of teams that can provide those opportunities, development of highly qualified individuals is imperative,” said Vincent, a former player who has transitioned into his leadership role with the league. “That’s why our partnership with historic black colleges and universities through the MEAC (Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference) and SWAC (Southwestern Athletic Conference) is so very strategic. HBCUs specifically, and the NCAA generally, represent fertile ground to develop a qualified and sustainable pipeline of diverse candidates for our specialized workforce.”

All parties involved want the same thing, so perhaps this offseason and those that follow can accelerate the growth.

Follow Mike Jones on Twitter @ByMikeJones.

PHOTOS: Best NFL celebrations