NFL

Push for NFL diversity close to Dungy's heart

The Jets' Herm Edwards says owners see less risk in hiring an experienced head coach.

By RICK STROUD, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published March 24, 2003

PHOENIX -- Had Tony Dungy followed the advice instead of his dream, he might never have become a head coach in the NFL.

"When I interviewed in Tampa, there were people that said, 'Don't go. Steve Spurrier already has got the job and my sources said he's taking it,"' Dungy said. "I kidded (former Times columnist) Hubert Mizell because he wrote that I wasn't a serious candidate. So you don't know. But you do know that if you never get to that point, you're not going to get the job."

That's what is behind NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue's initiative to promote diversity among the league's head coaches by mandating teams interview at least one minority candidate.

Since Art Shell was hired as coach of the Raiders in 1989, there have been six other black head coaches in the NFL: Dennis Green, Ray Rhodes, Dungy, Herman Edwards, Marvin Lewis and Terry Robiske, who was an interim coach with the Redskins for three games in 2000.

That's not much progress for a league of 32 teams in which 70 percent of its players are black. Lewis, with the Bengals, was the only African-American hired as a head coach among five vacancies last season.

"I don't know if you're ever satisfied, but I think we took some steps in the right direction and I think it's going to be good for the game, eventually, in the fact that guys are getting a chance to interview and the process in most cases is taking a little longer and making it more inclusive," Dungy said.

Dungy is a member of an NFL diversity committee appointed by Tagliabue to help increase minority hiring in coaching and front-office positions. This week, at their annual spring meeting, owners will deal with a committee report on whether the Lions failed to follow the new initiative when they didn't interview a black candidate before hiring former 49ers coach Steve Mariucci.

After a 11/2-hour session Sunday night, committee chairman and Steelers owner Dan Rooney said there was no decision on what action, if any, to take against the Lions.

Detroit has said that five black candidates refused invitations to interview.

"I just think personally, the way the timing was, saying we're going to stick with our coach, then Steve (Mariucci) gets fired, and then you make a change ... it's pretty obvious why you're going to make a change and I think that's what everyone saw and why a lot of guys declined to interview because this was a pretty obvious situation," Dungy said. "What happens in view of this new rule, I think that's something the diversity committee and the commissioner have got to work their way through. It's kind of a new idea, so you don't really know for sure.

"I think that's the situation you're trying to avoid," Dungy added. "But the Detroit situation is unique because of the timing and the way things came out. Then, the other side of the coin is, you have a policy and you should follow it."

While strides have been made in hiring minority head coaches in the NBA and Major League Baseball, the NFL continues to lag way behind.

Certainly, it's hard to argue with the success five of the black coaches have achieved. Shell, Green, Rhodes, Dungy and Edwards have compiled a 282-224-1 record in 29 combined full seasons. They have won a total of seven division titles and made nine playoff appearances, including four trips to conference title games. Only Rhodes (38-44-1) has a losing record.

Edwards, who has taken the Jets to consecutive playoff appearances, said owners believe there is less risk in hiring candidates with previous NFL head coaching experience, a process that excludes black coaches.

"I mean, it's hard. Not just in the NFL, but anywhere," Edwards said. "When you go out of the box, when you say I'm going to hire this coach and he's not a guy who has been in the league or he hasn't done it, the onus goes on the owner and the general manager, because if he fails, you've hired the wrong guy. Whereas, if it's a coach that's been in it and done it, then it's on the coach. There's a lot of ways where you can get out of that one.

"But when you hire me, okay. Never been a head coach, never been a coordinator. And in New York? Let me tell you something. You went way out of the box. People say, 'Wait a minute. Who is this guy? What truck did this guy fall off of?' So the owner and (Jets general manager) Terry Bradway have to sit there and say, 'C'mon, Coach, you've got to get going.' And so far, it's worked out. To me, I don't think we realize that. But that's something I've looked at and said, 'Who do I want to put it on?"'

Even if the Lions acted in good faith, simply saying they could not find a black coaching candidate willing to interview may not be enough.

"I know one side of the coin is, you don't want people to say, 'I had my candidate in mind, so there was nothing I could do,"' Dungy said. "You don't want to be able to step around the rule that way. It's an ongoing developmental process because, frankly, it's four months with the rule in place.

"When you're discussing this issue, there's going to be no perfect solution. The commissioner and Art Rooney tried to put something together that's going to help. Is it the best thing? Who knows? But it's a process everyone thinks is helping."

So, what if the Bucs, who really wanted Spurrier or former Cowboys coach Jimmy Johnson, hadn't asked Dungy to interview for the position?

"If those guys take the job, they never would've interviewed me," Dungy said. "What the commissioner is trying to say, at least go through the process and if Spurrier was the guy, hire him. Maybe you don't feel that way after you interview them. If you do, fine."

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