# Black NFL coaches: The hiring policy **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [January 7, 2004, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-nfl-coaches-the-hiring-policy/223274 "2004-01-07T20:07:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2004, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-nfl-coaches-the-hiring-policy/223274/21 "2004-01-08T16:02:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by IzzyR \* > \*\*I think it is all about the owners keeping the simple-minded players happy. \*\* Not nearly. Pressure to implment minority-friendly interviewing processes came almost totally from outside the NFL (Jessie Jackson, Al Sharpton, Johnnie Cochran, et al). ---
**Author:** ![jeevmon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/87869e/32.png) [@jeevmon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jeevmon)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2004, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-nfl-coaches-the-hiring-policy/223274/22 "2004-01-08T16:48:34Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Marks 1st wife \* > \*\*I am not a sports fan, but I can not for the life of me see what ‘color’ has to do with whether a person is qualified for a job or not. \*\* It doesn’t, intrinsically, but if people of color are being systematically tracked out of positions where they can become qualified because of overt or covert prejudice, then that is an issue. I remember that African-American quarterbacks, for example, were still a relative novelty in both college and pro ranks when Warren Moon and Randall Cunningham first started playing. There was an implicit assumption that African-Americans just weren’t smart enough to run a football offense. That situation is thankfully improving. But the same assumption that pervaded the training and development of quarterbacks also applied, with greater force, to coaching. That assumption, plus the fact that head coaching positions in all sports tend to be revolving doors for people who have already been coaches, has led to a dearth of minority coaching candidates. Again, I’m not convinced that the mandatory minority candidate interview is the best means of dealing with the issue, but I am convinced that there is an issue to be dealt with. ---
**Author:** ![IzzyR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/2acd7d/32.png) [@IzzyR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IzzyR)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2004, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-nfl-coaches-the-hiring-policy/223274/23 "2004-01-08T17:00:41Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Diogenes the Cynic \* > Why do you say the players are “simple-minded?” Well most people are simple-minded, at least to the extent that they will fail to realize the point I made here and assume that there should be a direct relationship between NFL player percentage and NFL coaching percentage. My impression of players is that they tend to be dumber than average, not smarter. With exceptions, of course. But in any event, the relevant factor here is not whether the players are more simple-minded than anyone else but the fact that they are the ones the league is trying to make happy. The other simple-minded people are less relevant. > [@](#): > > Actually, I think it’s much more like what **eli** said, the NFL wants to diminish the image of white leadership/ black labor. But who are the people (that count) who care about this image? I haven’t seen a great outrage from the fans about the issue. As an aside, it would be interesting to see the league hire 75% black coaches. Then the exact same issue would resurface in terms of black coaches and white ownership. I’d like to see a rule that any owner looking to sell his team has to interview a black potential buyer. 😃 > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by bordelond \* > Pressure to implment minority-friendly interviewing processes came almost totally from outside the NFL (Jessie Jackson, Al Sharpton, Johnnie Cochran, et al). My impression is that while these people are the rabble-rousers who turned up the heat on this issue, the pressure point that they have is the majority black players. But I could be wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Ashtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2004, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-nfl-coaches-the-hiring-policy/223274/24 "2004-01-08T17:11:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by capacitor \* > \*\*By the way, if any owner decides to hire Rich Kotite, he should be required to sell the team. \*\* I didn’t know who this guy was, so I Googled him and came up with [this](http://members.tripod.com/~itpa/kotite.html). Enjoy. ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2004, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-nfl-coaches-the-hiring-policy/223274/25 "2004-01-08T18:01:34Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by IzzyR \* > \*\*My impression of players is that they tend to be dumber than average, not smarter. \*\* On this point, you’re likely wrong. Football is an extraordinarily complex game that requires a great deal of study in addition to physical skill. Some positions are simpler than others, but most of them are not simple at all. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-nfl-coaches-the-hiring-policy/223274.md?page=1)