Despite Black players comprising over 72% of the total on NFL rosters, they are still answering to a different color on the sidelines. 

This offseason there were seven head coaching vacancies that were filled, but with only one of them being African-American when the Houston Texans hired David Culley, who was an assistant coach for two years with the Baltimore Ravens. The only other team to hire a minority head coach was Robert Saleh, the first Palestinian head coach of the New York Jets. Eric Bieniemy is the current Offensive Coordinator for the Kansas City Chiefs and has been an assistant coach since 2001. The Kansas City Chiefs are the first team in NFL history to host three consecutive AFC Championship games and winning the Super Bowl last season. Not to mention, they are the favorites to win the Super Bowl again this year. Over the past few seasons, the Chiefs have taken the NFL by storm with their explosive offense that can put points on the scoreboard in the blink of an eye. They spearhead this offense by NFL MVP Patrick Mahomes, who may be the most naturally talented NFL quarterback the league has ever seen. However, anybody that truly understands the game will tell you that the quarterback is often only as good as the person calling the plays and managing personnel. 

We have always known Andy Reid as an offensively minded coach and a player’s coach. A coach that knows how to treat superstars and make them comfortable, so that they can become the best version of themselves on the field. Similar to the way Phil Jackson coached Michael Jordan on the Chicago Bulls, Andy Reid has helped Patrick Mahomes turn into a marvel. He is a coach that is creative and that has enough humility to realize that a team is only as good as their superstar being comfortable. When you blend this offensive creativity and philosophy with a quarterback like Mahomes, you get a dynasty. There is nobody that understands this innovative philosophy better than Eric Bieniemy, who has worked alongside Andy Reid since 2013. 

Bienemy has almost twice the resume of the new coaches that have been recently hired around the league, but he just can’t seem to get an interview. Cliff Kingsbury was the head coach at Texas Tech University last season, where he was only five games over .500 and doesn’t have a winning record over his last 3 years. Yet, was still hired to be the head coach of the Arizona Cardinals. NFL owners continue to cannot make a genuine commitment to racial diversity amongst head coaches. How else do you explain another disappointing hiring cycle for African-American coaches around the league? The only logical explanation is the same one it has always been, NFL owners are happy to have people of color in the locker room as laborers, but for being leaders of men, it is few. The Rooney Rule was not designed just to placate a diversity checkbox, it was to help place more minorities in head coaching positions.

For years in the NFL, there was a narrative around the league that black players couldn’t play quarterback either. There was a belief that they weren’t smart enough to understand playbooks and read defenses. In 2021, that idea sounds laughable, doesn’t it? However, not that long ago and African-Americans will continue to tear down barriers and disprove false narratives that this country continues to push upon us. This is akin to the days of the late Al Campanis, who was an executive for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Campanis once said on ABC’s ‘Nightline’ that Black people lacked the necessary qualities to be in leadership roles. Although he was fired immediately, there are many who are in positions of power that still echo those statements in their hiring decisions. Credit to those organizations such as the Washington Football Team and Atlanta Falcons for hiring Black general managers, but what about the men on the sidelines?

However, even with the hire of Culley, it still doesn’t change the huge racial disparity amongst the league’s top positions. 

Next Sunday the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will feature four assistant coaches who are Black, and one must wonder if they will ever get their opportunity to hold the main clipboard.