Raiders General Manager Reggie McKenzie supports the Rooney Rule. But after an offseason in which every NFL team followed the letter of the Rooney Rule -- interviewing at least one minority before hiring a head coach or G.M. -- and yet no team hired a minority, McKenzie questions the extent to which the spirit of the Rooney Rule is being followed.
McKenzie, who is one of five African-American general managers in the NFL, questioned whether some minority candidates are getting interviewed “just to satisfy the rule.”
“If it’s used correctly, yes,” McKenzie told CSNBayArea.com of his support for the Rooney Rule. “If it’s used correctly. The bottom line is trying to get guys to work hard, to identify guys who are worthy of getting an interview. Instead of, you know, hiring guys that they know. This just kind of widens the door a little bit. But just to do something just to satisfy the rule? I don’t like that at all.”
The NFL may expand the Rooney Rule to require an interview with at least one minority before filling vacancies for coordinators, assistant head coaches and team presidents, in addition to head coaches and general managers. But McKenzie raises an interesting point: How much do those interviews mean, if they’re done just to satisfy the rule?