A New Head Coach…

Earlier this week, Frank Reich was fired from being the head coach of the Indianapolis Colts. This by itself is not all that surprising and bares little interest unless you are plugged in to the Colts as a fan. However, the Colts have hired an interim head coach by the name of Jeff Saturday.

Breaking: Colts are naming their former six-time Pro-Bowl C and ESPN analyst Jeff Saturday as their interim head coach. Saturday has been a consultant for the team, is in its Ring Of Honor, and also was head coach for the Hebron Christian Academy football team in Dacula, Georgia. pic.twitter.com/VEmHOeSrFR

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) November 7, 2022

He was an awesome player, and no one will dispute that. Still, hiring a former player who has no college or professional experience is puzzling, especially for a team that lacks a clear direction.

As best as I can tell, Jeff Saturday becomes the first person in NFL history to be named a head coach without any coaching experience at either the NFL or college level.

He now takes over in Indy.

— Field Yates (@FieldYates) November 7, 2022

This hiring has added fuel to the fire of another coaching dilemma, this time focused on Brian Flores and his Racial Discrimination Lawsuit of the NFL. Back in February, Flores alleged that three teams (Miami Dolphins, Denver Broncos, and New York Giants) participated in racial discrimination against him during the hiring process. He claimed that the Giants and Broncos had no intention of hiring him but decided to have him partake in an interview to meet the qualifications of the Rooney Rule. He also alleged that the Dolphins labeled him unfairly as noncompliant.

This lawsuit is still ongoing, and more allegations have been added over the months that followed. Overall, Flores feels that as minority, he has not been given the same opportunity as many less qualified white coaching candidates. Now, a player with no professional coaching experience of any kind has been hired as an interim coach, and again Flores was not considered. (It is important to note that the Rooney Rule does not apply to interim head coaching positions. A minority coach does not need to be interviewed in this situation.)

Imagine being the NFL lawyers working the racial discrimination lawsuit of Brian Flores, with all the statistical support that lawsuit has, only to add Colts hire a white former player with literally 0 qualifications, off the street, to be interim head coach for a team. Baffling.

— Solo Lopez (@TheSoloLopez) November 7, 2022

The NFL has struggled with being more inclusive for minorities for its entire history. Though not thought of nearly as often as the color barrier of baseball, historically broken by Jackie Robinson, the NFL’s color barrier was broken only a year before that historic feat. There was a time when people of color were not allowed to participate in football. Remnants of this can still be seen with the use of the Rooney Rule. The disparity of inclusion is still a big enough issue that rules have been put in place to require teams to give minorities a shot. And if what Flores alleges is true, that rule is backfiring on the NFL majorly.

There is no point to holding an interview for a person that you know you are not going to hire. It is a waste of time and disrespectful to the aspiring employee. It does no good to anyone involved. With the lack of minority head coaches and minority team owners and executives in the league, it is difficult to see how the Rooney Rule has improved the NFL’s hiring of minorities. If anything, it only acts as a front to weakly invalidate the genuine issues that are brought up regarding this topic.

With the hiring of Saturday, many more experienced coaches were passed over. Many of them were minorities. Until the NFL begins to see more of these minority coaches get opportunities, it is reasonable to question the possibility of racial discrimination within the hiring processes around the league.