NFL Expands Rooney Rule, Mandates Minority & Women Assistants

PALM BEACH, FL — The National Football League is expanding its Rooney Rule and will require teams to have a minority member and a woman on their offensive coaching staffs beginning in the 2022 season.

The league announced the move Monday at its annual owners meeting.

"It's a recognition that at the moment, when you look at stepping stones for a head coach, they are the coordinator positions," Pittsburgh Steelers owner Art Rooney II, the chairman of the NFL Diversity, Equity and Inclusion committee, told ESPN. "We clearly have a trend where coaches are coming from the offensive side of the ball in recent years, and we clearly do not have as many minorities in the offensive coordinator [job]."

Established in 2003 and named after the late Steelers owner Dan Rooney, who conceived it, the Rooney Rule previously required teams to interview minority candidates for head coaching and executive football administrative positions.

The rule has been criticized in recent years for being ineffective. While 70 percent of NFL players are Black, just five of the 32 head coaches are minorities: Mike Tomlin (Steelers), Ron Rivera (Washington Commanders), Lovie Smith (Houston Texans), Robert Saleh (New York Jets) and Mike McDaniels (Miami Dolphins).

Former Dolphins head coach Brian Flores, who was fired after the 2021 season, has filed a lawsuit against the NFL and three teams alleging discrimination in their hiring practices. The Steelers since have hired him as a senior defensive assistant and linebackers coach.

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