Roger Goodell says NFL has failed in effort to diversify head coaches

INGLEWOOD, Calif. – NFL commissioner Roger Goodell admitted Wednesday the league has failed to make meaningful progress in its efforts to diversify head coaching positions and vowed to seek alternative methods in addition to or in place of the Rooney Rule to achieve more equity.

Goodell said the league had "really focused to try to get the kind of results that we would expect, and we fell short … by a long shot" during remarks at his annual State of the NFL news conference preceding Super Bowl LVI.

Last week, former Dolphins coach Brian Flores, who was fired after two winning seasons, filed suit against the NFL, alleging discriminatory practices in its hiring process after he was passed over for the Giants’ head coaching job as well as all other vacant positions. There were nine openings in the current hiring cycle, and two positions were filled by diverse candidates – Lovie Smith in Houston and Mike McDaniel, who is multiracial, in Miami. Mike Tomlin of the Steelers is the only other Black coach.

Goodell said the league will consider changes to the Rooney Rule or will consider abolishing it entirely if a better plan is seen as more beneficial. The rule requires teams to interview minority candidates for all head coach, coordinator and lead executive positions.

"I don't think you take anything off the table until you have people look at that, help us independently say, ‘Is there something flawed with our process?’" he said. "And if there is, what can we do to resolve and fix that?

"So what we’re going to do is step back and look at everything we’re doing today," he said. "What can we do to resolve that and fix that? Everything from looking at the Rooney Rule and seeing what changes should be made to that – if any changes – or should it be removed, which some people have suggested. All of those things are part of that."

Goodell, in a letter to NFL owners and chief executives issued on Saturday, said he acknowledged that many of Flores’ concerns about hiring practices were valid, especially when placed against the backdrop of the league’s failure to add diversity at the head coaching position in recent years. And he said Wednesday that the league will not accept racism in its hiring practices.

"We won’t tolerate racism, we won’t tolerate discrimination," he said. "If there are policies that we need to modify, we’re going to do that. If we see evidence of discrimination, we will deal with that in a very serious way."

Goodell also said the league would investigate Flores’ claim that he was offered $100,000 by Dolphins owner Stephen Ross for every game he lost during the 2019 season as a way to secure a better draft pick the following season.

"I found all of the allegations, whether they’re based on racism or discrimination, or the integrity of our game, all of those to me were very disturbing," Goodell said. "They are very serious matters to us on all levels, and we need to make sure we get to the bottom of all of them. Integrity of the game is obviously an important element. We are going to look into that. We are going to make sure if there were violations, they won’t be tolerated."

Goodell wouldn’t speculate on what penalties might be levied if Flores’ allegations are true about the financial enticements to lose.

"When we know what those facts are and the impact they have on our game," he said, "we’ll deal with it very seriously." He added that he believes that "clubs do have the authority" to remove an owner if it is determined that his or her behavior warrants such a penalty. Former Panthers owner Jerry Richardson was forced to sell his team in 2018 in the wake of workplace misconduct charges directly involving the owner himself.

Asked why the league has also been slow to hire people of color in key decision-making roles at the NFL executive level, including its media conglomerate, Goodell said he is adamant about improving that record.

‘We believe in diversity, we believe in it as a value, we believe it’s made us stronger, how people have come into the league who are diverse have been very successful and made us better and we just have to do a better job," he said. "I think what we have to do is just continue and find and look and step back and say, ‘We’re not doing a good enough job here.’ We need to find better solutions and better outcomes."

Goodell said he takes personal responsibility for hiring issues on his watch, as well as a shared responsibility to do better.

"The single responsibility comes on all of us in the NFL and we have to be the ones that make that change and we are the ones that have to make sure we bring diversity deeper into our NFL and make the NFL an inclusive and diverse organization that allows everyone the opportunity to be successful," he said.

Goodell said the league would investigate accusations of workplace harassment by Washington Commanders owner Daniel Snyder. The allegations were discussed at a Congressional hearing involving the NFL’s handling of its investigation into workplace misconduct with Snyder’s team.

The Commanders announced Wednesday morning that the team had hired an outside investigator to look into former team employee Tiffani Johnston’s claim that Snyder acted inappropriately with her at a team dinner more than a decade ago. Johnston recounted her experiences at the hearing. Within hours, the NFL announced that it would handle the investigation and not the team.

"I do not see any way that a team can do its own investigation of itself," Goodell said. "That's something we would do. We would do it with an outside expert that would be able to help us come to the conclusion of what the facts were."

By Bob Glauber

Special to NewsdayBobGlauber

Bob Glauber retired in 2022 after covering the NFL for nearly 40 years. He was selected in 2021 for the Bill Nunn Career Achievement Award by the Pro Football Writers of America, and is a three-time winner of the New York State Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sports Media Association. President of the PFWA for the 2018-20 seasons, he is the author of “The Forgotten First” and “Guts and Genius.”