Several of you have asked whether the Bears will be required to comply with the Rooney Rule if/when coach Lovie Smith is fired.
In lieu of answering the same e-mail a dozen times (then again, that presumes we answer e-mails), we decided to do a quick post, since there likely are others who have the same question.
The Rooney Rule applies to every coaching search, regardless of whether the team has previously employed a minority head coach.
So once Lovie Smith is no longer the coach of the Bears -- whether it's in 2010 or 2020 or some point in between -- the Bears will be required to interview at least one minority candidate when replacing Smith, unless the Rooney Rule has been changed or rescinded by then.
And that continues to be a question that needs to be asked from time to time: Is the Rooney Rule still necessary?
It's not for us to resolve this question, but we think that the league needs to be willing to ponder from time to time whether the time has come to trust the teams to consider coaching candidates without regard to the color of their skin.
If Lovie Smith is fired, Bears still must comply with Rooney Rule
Posted by Mike Florio on December 24, 2009 12:02 PM ET
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i've always wondered, is there a concrete definition the NFL uses for "minority"?
The Rooney rule is retarded.
The Rooney Rule should also apply to the draft. Before a team selects another black cornerback or wide receiver they should have to justify why they passed on white and asian college players. It's obviously a racist plot.
It will always be there now because the NAACP would have a fit if they got rid of it...
If you fire a black head coach you should be required to hire another black head coach unless two other teams in the NFL have added black head coaches after you have fired your black head coach and before you hire your new coach (who would be, preferably, black).
Otherwise there will never be any progress made.
I think they get Ron Rivera... so the Rooney rule I feel won't apply.
@ Krow
Smartest commenton here. I am appauld that there are not enough white RB's, WR's, LB's and DB's. I cry racism!
"The Rooney Rule should also apply to the draft. Before a team selects another black cornerback or wide receiver they should have to justify why they passed on white and asian college player"
Couldn't agree more. The pendulum swings both ways.
Thank you Krow!!!
When the Rooney rule goes away and Favre retires, how will Florio get his jollies?
When will the Art Shell rule come into play? That is, you can't just interview Art Shell to abide by the Rooney Rule.
the naacp doesnt own anything and hires people like mel reynolds.
if the current majority becomes a minority, the new majority wont give a crap about having a rooney rule for the new minority.
we all know it. so lets dispense with this rooney rule bs.
How about doing an exit interview for Lovie? Is that considered as complying the Rooney Rule.
Yea i definitely have to agree the Rooney rule sucks just because it's a one way street. If an individual is willing to accept an interview because they are a certain race then they should be willing to accept that they won't get an interview because of it. I just think that by accepting the job, interview or anything else because of the rule then your saying it's ok to pick and choose based on race. Your agreeing with what your against but ignoring it because it benefits you or someone/something you like. This makes you look very ignorant. I think everyone should have the same opportunities if they are the same and I'm not talking race I'm talking about being qualified for the job.
So here's a question. If you owned an NFL team and it's success depended on you winning and loosing which in turn generated millions of dollars would you turn down a coach who you believe could win just because he's a certain race? I didn't think so, you may not like him but you would employee him. I wonder why there aren't any female coaches?
To all of you complaining about the Rooney Rule and the lack of white and asian cornerbacks, wide receivers or other players, you're missing the entire point of this directive. No one has come out and said whites aren't smart enough to play those positions. Historically, many black quarterbacks recruited from high schools and colleges often were moved to other positions because it was believed they weren't smart enough to play those positions on a higher level. When the Steelers drafted Tony Dungy, for example, a quarterback from Minnesota, they moved him to safety. The same holds true with head coaching positions. The Rooney Rule provides the OPPORTUNITY for black assistants to apply for jobs they normally wouldn't get a chance to apply for because many owners are only familiar with the white counterparts of would-be minority applicants. The Rooney Rule isn't "retarded" or "racist." It opens up opportunities for the Mike Tomlins and Tony Dungys of the world who wouldn't get noticed without the rule.
TFBuckFutter says:
If you fire a black head coach you should be required to hire another black head coach unless two other teams in the NFL have added black head coaches after you have fired your black head coach and before you hire your new coach (who would be, preferably, black).
.....TF, since they have failed to come up with a universal font for sarcasm, i hope you are joking! that has to be one of the stupidest things i've ever read...keep up the good work, brotha. just keep the hand out, until there is nothing left to give.
The Rooney Rule is such a joke. Everyone knows that teams just get their interviews with minorities "over with" and go on hiring a white coach. What a ridiculous rule.
Why???????????
I agree with Krow. Great comment. I guess when minority players are picked over whites, it's due to talent. But if a team picks a white coach right from the start of the process- it has to be that the owner is a racist. It couldn't possibly be that the owner feels the white coach may have more talent at coaching.
I think Florio has trademarked the words "Rooney Rule" and gets $ every time it is typed. I have never read any sports websites with more references to this rule.
In the Redskins GM & coach posts, you suggested that the Rooney Rule needed to be expanded.
Now, you're suggesting it might need to go away.
Way to keep those bases covered, Florio. You can later claim to have been right along, and most people will have forgotten that you weren't.
I'd say its still necessary, at least for now. Why? Look at the BCS' lead coach list.
Chapnasty...there's a ton of white WRs and LBs in the league. But yea I'd say that white players rarely get a fair shake at RB and DB, CB especially. There's some white guys who could play CB in the league but it just doesn't happen. Tom Nelson of the Bengals comes to mind, I remember them talking about it on Hard Knocks.
TF: That is the dumbest thing I have ever heard.
There is only 1 color that matters here and it's green. They aren't going to fire Lovie still owing him that much money.
"And that continues to be a question that needs to be asked from time to time: Is the Rooney Rule still necessary?
Bottom line: The so-called Rooney Rule is outdated and needs to be abolished.
"florioblockedme says:
December 24, 2009 12:28 PM
.....TF, since they have failed to come up with a universal font for sarcasm, i hope you are joking!"
What's sarcasm?
LONG LIVE THE ROONEY RULE!!!
Because of the history of racism in this country we must remain vigilant. Even now, as a country, we continue to act in this manner by treating Mexicans differently than Canadians, and treating Afghanis differently than humans.
The Rooney Rule isn't "retarded" or "racist"
Get real.
Geez ... it's just calling for a freakin' interview with a minority. What is sooooooo freakin' unacceptable about that?
Who are the genius coaches that teams will not be able to hire fast enough if they don't hold alegitimate interview with at least ONE freakin' minority?
Mangini? Zorn? Shanahan quit being a genius head coach the very same day that Elway retired.
There was a REASON Shanahan got fired. It wasn't because the Broncos were tired of winning Super Bowls .... or even playoff games.
"Bob Sacamono says:
December 24, 2009 12:37 PM
TF: That is the dumbest thing I have ever heard."
Now that you mention it, it is kind of dumb.
I didn't include other minorities.
Two black head coaches, three latino head coaches, six asian head coaches, or two little people and an albino.
I'm sorry. I just happen to believe that the only way to make decisions that is fair to everyone is to reduce people to their ethnicity, and then require them to be viewed as interchangeable.
They should probably establish a benchmark for eliminating the Rooney Rule. Something along the lines of automatically abolishing the rule when 50% of the league's head coaching and/or front office positions are held by minorities. They'd get fewer objections to its elimination if the timing didn't feel arbitrary.
There is an equivalent of the Rooney Rule for whites, asians and anyone else who wants to play in the NFL. It's called the combine. Everyone there gets timed, prodded, evaluated and measured by the same objective measuring sticks. Maybe it is time for the Rooney Rule to go away. But there's no equivalence between requiring a team to INTERVIEW a candidate and requiring a team to HIRE.
If Franco Harris interviewd for the Bears job would that comply with the Rooney Rule ?
Because of the history of racism in this country we must remain vigilant.
The only racism that has occurred during my lifetime is affirmative action. And the Rooney Rule.
I can't understand why, in this day and age, anyone who has a firm idea of who they want to hire should also be obligated to interview Andy Rooney.
The Rooney Rule is a joke. To all of you who believe it gives opportunities to minorities in the NFL, your wrong. No owner in this league starts the interview process without pretty much knowing who they want. They almost always know what kind of coach this guy is in advance. The interview becomes a way to determine if the 2 parties, owner and coach, want to go in the same direction. Rebuild, free agents, this type of offense, this type of defense, whether he will run or pass, focus on this or that, and how much these ideas and that coach will cost the team. So many owners are way to impatient as well, and a coach does a 1 and done. But to force them to interview someone they don't want because of race is ridiculous.
The main reason that people (including Florio) hate the Rooney Rule is that its basically an admission that racism still exists in the NFL. It’s a hard pill to swallow and the truth hurts. Doesn’t make it any less of the truth.
What is so bad about getting qualified minority candidates opportunities to interview for top level positions/?
Jim Caldwell was afforded this opportunity a few times in years past, but he wasn’t offered any jobs.
Maybe next time an owner will think twice before overlooking a potentially undefeated head coach.
Fetchez La Vache says:
"There is an equivalent of the Rooney Rule for whites, asians and anyone else who wants to play in the NFL. It's called the combine. Everyone there gets timed, prodded, evaluated and measured by the same objective measuring sticks. Maybe it is time for the Rooney Rule to go away. But there's no equivalence between requiring a team to INTERVIEW a candidate and requiring a team to HIRE."
PREACH!
The Rooney rule IS racist and retarded. It is also not even honest within its own definition. We know that "minority" really means "blacks". Snyder should have interviewed 2 women.
I understand the"spirit" of the Rooney Rule, but it really needs to be updated.
BTW- How come there is no Rooney rule for the NCAA football programs ????????
There are a hell of a lot more coaching spots in the NCAA, then in the NFL.
Am I the only one that thinks somehow Shanahan will end up reunited with Cutler in Chicago?
PFT News Flash: If Rudolph gets sacked by Santa as the lead reindeer he must interview three Cairbou and and Elk before hiring a reindeer in order to comply with the Rooney rule....
PFT News Flash: Alleged Donner and Blitzen interviews would not count as fulfilling ROoney Rule Requirement
PFT News Flash: Allen in talks with Rudoilph to become next Skins coach despite not interviewing Caribou...
Teams shouldn't have to interview someone they don't want to interview. So therefore, if they don't want to interview a black or white candidate, because they have someone in mind already, they should not have to. IE, get rid of the Rooney Rule (and affirmative action all together) and stop being racist... Its actually MORE detrimental to a "minority" for a hiring manager to be forced to comply with a law/rule like that because that hiring manager might end up resenting that person, making it hell to work there. Its happened countless times.
LOL @ Krow, well played.
What if the Bears interviewed their mascot, or an actual bear? Aren't bears a minority? Would that satisfy the Rooney rule?
Unfortunately, Lovie isn't going anywhere. But in the odd chance that they do, they need to launch Angelo too.
While we're on the Rooney Rule...how about the white rule....no rap music allowed on pregame shows, postgame shows, or in the stadium. Just because all the players are black, doesn't mean all the fans are.
Someone should just interview a woman off the street for a front office position and see if that qualifies for the Rooney Rule
I didn't read the "If" at first so I read "Lovie Smith is fired" and almost had the greatest Christmas ever...
Thanks for the sike-out...
I don't like it, but I say keep it. It cuts out any discriminatory lawsuits against owners and the NFL. If not all, atleast a large majority.
The risk vs. reward in regards to the Rooney Rule is in favor of reward for the owners and for the league.
THey should interview a woman. Maybe Jim Zorn or Wade Phillips would do the trick.
GARBAGE ...
you hire the right man, woman, alien, celestial spirit for the job regardless of ... whatever
"its 4th down, 10 yards to go, on your own 30 ... play action pass ... GOOO DEEEP!"
thats my kind of coach, attack attack, attack.
Does interviewing a Native American for the job fulfill the Rooney rule?
The Rooney Rule is one of the most inadvertently racist social engineering programs that has ever been created.
Basically it boils down to this....
black people can't ever get a chance to get a HC job in the NFL without the help of the white man.
And let's not forget the argument that because most of the players are black that must mean that they're all racist and need to play for a black man because they just can't relate to the mentally superiour white man.
Makes me want to puke that rich liberals like Florio think that giving the black man a handout makes them a better human being and in turn let's them lie to themselves that they are not racist because they give out charity jobs to black people.
I've never liked the Rooney Rule.
If I'm an owner, and I have an opening for a head coach, and I know the guy I want for the job, I'm compelled to be racist by selecting a person, based entirely on race, for a sham interview. I'd care about qualifications for the job; with the Rooney Rule, one of those qualifications is the color of one's skin.
Interesting exit question: did the Colts interview any white candidates before hiring Caldwell?
Where's Norm Chow and Stan Kwan! ASIAN POWER!!!
Reverse discrimination; Hope it gets challeged in the near future.
I'm pretty sure MLK would not approve of a rule based on skin color. He fought for the opposite. Pathetic rule.
Hey Florio, You always talk about this Rooney Rule. I would love for you to write a post regarding what the penalties are for not complying with this rule. Fines, loss of draft picks? According to this site over the past few years teams have found loopholes or in the Redskins case this year just thumbed their noses at it. What is the penalty for not complying?
Krow,
Funny, but the draft already applies to skill. That's what the Rooney Rule is all about. You're supposed to hire based on skill not skin color. It was just extended to executives, so it isn't going anywhere soon.
hahahah, this league has become a womanized, sensitive, joke of a league, per this government and this country for the most part. People play the race card and the sensitivity card if anyone tries to apply logic to religion, color , etc. This should be the laughing stock of the league and the news. Required to interview certain people, can you say corrupt? Can you say a bashfull, tail between your legs organization. Going to be an uncapped, overly sensitive bad officiated, can't even hit and play physical football of old; wasteful money grubbing players who don't have substance and develop their game. Sounds like the worst of all leagues combined baseball uncapped, basketball bad officiating and feminine rules.
Of course the rule applies. Anybody who thinks otherwise is stark raving mad. It's a good rule. It's been successful. The universe has not melted down. Anyone who thinks it shouldn't apply to the Bears... must be racist. Really. Simply. Honestly. There is no other reason on the planet why anyone should believe the good rule should not apply in this case. Please excuse me while I try to keep my head from caving in because of your rampant stupidity.
I am so saddened by the Rooney rule. It's the most racist thing on the planet. This actually hurts people of color more than it helps. But Democrats have been doing that for years so I guess it's par for the course.
Lol at all of these comments. We have the same arguments every 3 hours or so when Florio brings it up. EVERY single position he cries for it. The fact is no one ever changes their minds! This argument about players being able to compete and get spots based on skilll... hogwash. What if the white coaching candidates are just better qualified so the teams don't want to waste time and money on interviewing someone who isnt qualified? Even if the minority (what does that word even mean anymore) candidate is better then there should be no reason to interview a white guy. It's science and as long as Florio and NBC and Democrats are around to put people into categories, there will always be racism.
Ooops, I bet Florio disables my account for the 3rd time now.
RIP: KILLACHAP/CHAPNASY
I think the Rooney rule should apply to NFL Bloggers too. How many minority candidates did NBC waste it's time on before they hired Mike Florio, which they would have done anyway? Until we stop discriminating against the minorities and the majority by instituting rules like this, racism exists and is thriving.
Former player, quality control coach and D-Coordinator Ron Rivera will be interviewed.
There's your minority candidate!
minority candidate: hannah montanna
without the Rooney Rule the Bears may never have gotten to hire an excellent defensive mind like Lovie Smith. They instead would be a pathetic excuse for an NFL franchise repeatedly failing to make the playoffs...............oh /////never mind
When are they ever going to be concerned about hiring parity? We'll know it's more than a show when they make it equal and madate interviewing female candidates, hispanic candidates, bald candidates, lawyer candidates, physically challenged candidates, alternative lifestyle candidates. Come on already...
I personally know the only way you can get Florio to respond to you in an email is if you email him something that pisses him off.
He has used a couple of things I have sent him in the past but the only things he responds to personally in an email is things that make him mad.
There should be a Rooney Draft rule .... a white RB has to been taken in the first round before a second black RB is drafted.
Seriously when was the last time a WHITE RB was drafted in the first round.
What self respecting person would even agree to an interview that the interviewer was forced to give them?
Maybe if a few affluent black businessmen decided to get together and maybe start their own league?
What if black players boycotted the NFL coming out of college?
I think you see my point. Until you control the purse strings, you do what you are told.
2020? By that time, all coaches will be minorities. Who cares anyway? In 10 years our deficit will prohibit us from enjoying sports anyway...well those of us with jobs anyway.
OK Rooney rule lovers, tell me this.
How fair is it if they ONLY interview Ron Rivera and then just hire him ???
Let's face it, the only reason Lovie will get fired in the first place is because he fired the mexican and kept the white guy . . . .
It opens up opportunities for the Mike Tomlins and Tony Dungys of the world who wouldn't get noticed without the rule.
______________
Really worked out well for both of them, right?
One is a commentator and one soon will be.
Seriously when was the last time a WHITE RB was drafted in the first round.
______________
Gerhart from Stanford will be this year.
So how many people were interviewed for the Colts job after Tony Dungy left?
That is what I thought.
I am glad that my hands are not tied to this stupid rule when we hire people where I work.
You know, people keep claiming publicly that racism against African Americans is still a problem in America. Mostly, and I pay attention, those are African Americans in some leadership position, and Democrat political people. Well, I'd like to see every person who makes that claim, include along with it their last personal experience of a racist encounter. Tell us how you personally experienced a racist incident within the last, oh say 5 years, and what that incident was. Because you know, I'm just not seeing it. I'm born and raised in Houston Texas, lived over a half century in Texas, and I haven't seen it in my circles. My parents' generation, I'd hear them talk. And I'm not saying it didn't happen in my generation 30 years ago. But I personally didn't see it, and never have, among my peers. So when you make that claim, give a personal experience to back it up, and let's just see how many there really are. And I mean personal, not the publicized incident where some individual is arrested for a crime. There will always be individual wierdos on all ends of every spectrum. Trying to make the case that because some white guy was arrested for a racist crime means the whole cross section of caucasians harbors racist attitudes, is EXACTLY LIKE trying to make the case that because some black guy is arrested for murder, the whole cross section of African Americans are murderers. Show us, folks. Who knows, maybe we'll learn we're being misled, about how things are today.