Why Sunday’s rare matchup between two Black head coaches is actually a bad look for NFL
Brian Flores and Anthony Lynn meet as adversaries Sunday.
The other 364 days of the year, they’re members of a fraternity that’s far too exclusive for their tastes.
Flores and Lynn — who know each other a little, but not much — are two of only three non-interim Black head coaches in the NFL. (Pittsburgh’s Mike Tomlin is the other.)
On Sunday, when Flores’ Miami Dolphins host Lynn’s Los Angeles Chargers, it marks the only time this season that two of those three coaches will face off.
That’s an indictment. Of what? Hard to say exactly.
Probably club owners because they’re the ones overwhelmingly choosing white candidates to coach teams that are overwhelmingly Black. (Stephen Ross, of course, is a notable exception; he hired both a Black coach in Flores and a Black general manager in Chris Grier.)
The NFL has made real efforts in the past two decades to promote diversity in its coaching ranks.
And yet, in terms of sheer numbers, it’s hard to say those efforts have been successful.
The league this week adjusted their Rooney Rule — which mandates teams must interview minority candidates for top coaching and senior executive openings — in a way that the NFL believes will incentivize the development of members of underrepresented ethnic groups. If a team loses a minority employee to a promotion on another club, that team will receive compensatory draft picks.
“I support the change,” Flores said. “... Look, there are a lot of good coaches in this league — white, Black. But if you’re asking me about minority coaches, there are certainly a large contingent of capable, smart, bright leaders in this league. I’m hopeful that they get the opportunities they deserve, and I’m sure if given those opportunities, they’ll have success.”
Added Lynn, who is midway through his fourth season with the Chargers: “I know our league and our owners are for diversity. They want that in the National Football League. And if this is going to help qualified minority candidates get opportunities that they never would have got, I’m all for it.”
Harry Carson, the Hall of Fame linebacker and chairman of a group dedicated to the promotion of Black coaches and general managers, likewise told the Miami Herald this week that he is largely supportive of the change.
But Carson, who heads the Fritz Pollard Alliance, was more eager to talk about the job Flores has done in Miami.
He’s a big fan. The feeling, as Carson — who played for the New York Giants from 1976 through 1988 — learned at the Super Bowl last winter, is mutual. Flores, a native Brooklynite, grew up rooting for Carson’s Giants, and told him that went they met.
“I’m glad they’re doing well,” Carson said. “I give a lot of kudos to Stephen Ross. It’s his toy to play with. He made the decision. GMs might say that they make the decision, but ultimately it comes down to the owner. There are some GMs who might not necessarily doubt a player or a coach’s ability to lead and coach a team, but when you select a head coach, you’re also selecting a face for the organization. I think that is where some owners get a little skittish about hiring a person of color to be the face of the organization. I commend Stephen Ross for allowing Brian Flores to be that face of the Miami Dolphins.”
As of now, five teams have black coaches, but that list includes Romeo Crennel and Raheem Morris, who are filling in with the Texans and Falcons because those teams fired their head coaches during the season. Although Carson hopes Houston and Atlanta remove the interim designation for each coach when the season ends, that’s not usually what happens. Owners often want a fresh start.
Plus Lynn is no sure bet to return in 2021. The Chargers have underachieved in each of the past two seasons.
But Morris, Bills defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier and Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy are sure to get interviews in the next cycle, and most believe one, if not all three, will get a top job in a couple months.
Carson would welcome that. He’s also not counting on it.
“We’ll have to wait and see what happens in the coming weeks to see if we’re going to feel good about what we might be anticipating for the 2021 season, or it’s one of those, ‘What happened to the Rooney Rule?’ again, where we have to defend that,” he said. “There are definitely enough guys that are in positions to warrant being head coaches in the NFL for 2021.”
Until then, Flores and the handful of other Black coaches must carry a burden not asked of their white colleagues. When there’s social unrest over racial inequality, Flores gets asked. When an unarmed Black man gets killed by police, Flores gets asked.
And when it’s time for journalists to write about the paucity of minority coaches in the NFL, Flores gets asked again and again and again.
“I don’t think it’s a burden,” Carson said, but “if it is a burden, they wear it very proudly. They can see for themselves that the lack of progress that’s been made in terms of coaches, minority coaches around the NFL. They know exactly what’s going on. I think they also know that if they don’t do well, they probably will be shown the door before any other coach and they may not get another opportunity to be a head coach in the National Football League. That’s just the way it is.
“Some people may not necessarily agree with that, but normally guys that have coached in the league, if they’re white, they get second, third chances. Guys who are Black or minority, they don’t necessarily get a second shot.”
This story was originally published November 13, 2020 at 8:00 AM.
