Believe it or not, the first question of NFL commissioner Roger Goodell’s press conference was not about the NFC Championship Game and the officiating blunder which led the Rams here.
But at least it was about another important topic.
After a hiring cycle which saw only one minority head coach (presumably) hired, Goodell said he was not inclined to judge the Rooney Rule based on recent results.
“We don’t look at the success or failure of the Rooney Rule in one-year increments,” Goodell said, as he began to hail the progress made in the past.
Sometimes that’s hard to see when the league has gone from eight minority head coaches to four (once Brian Flores joins the club).
Goodell said the league wanted to place an emphasis on expanding the league’s pipeline of minority coaches in key assistant positions (specifically offensive coordinators and quarterbacks coaches), and was planning a “quarterback summit” at Morehouse College to help mentor more young coaches in hopes of getting a more diverse field of candidates.
“We believe that is something that is critical for us moving forward, to continue the progress we’ve already had,” he said.
