keithw999's Blog

The highly-publicized search for a new head coach of the Washington Redskins got me to thinking about the perspective candidates for the job. Many of the players and coaching staff has voiced the opinion that Greg Williams, Redskins' current assistant coach or someone else “in-house” should get the nod. I hadn't been closely following the search for a new head coach until I heard on the radio the other day that the Redskins had yet to interview a minority candidate for the position. It seems, there is this “Rooney Rule” in the NFL that requires teams to include minority candidates when conducting a search for the head coach position.

Back in 2003, after firing head coach Marty Mornhinweg, the Detroit Lions immediately hired Steve Mariucci from the San Francisco 49rs as its head coach, bypassing the entire interview process. The Lions was fined $200,000 by the NFL for not first, going through the motions of appearing to interview minority candidates. What caught my attention was a scenario in which a team interviews all of the candidates it is seriously considering for the position but then interviews me, let's say, because this rule says that they have to. How exactly does that interview proceed, with the candidate and owner knowing fully well that the interview is merely a staged event to satisfy the league's well-intentioned politically-correct gesture of fairness? I'd love to sit in that room and observe this charade.

I'm not saying that this is the case with the Redskins' search. Certainly I believe that Ron Meeks of the Indianapolis Colts was given serious consideration. It's just the thought of some interviewees being “used” to fill a square when no serious consideration is ever actually given.