Some team that doesn’t currently have a head-coaching vacancy is apparently considering firing its head coach, if John Harbaugh wants the job.
That’s the implication from Harbaugh’s agent Bryan Harlan, who told Adam Schefter he received calls from seven NFL teams expressing interest Harbaugh.
Only seven jobs are open, and one of those is the Ravens, so at least one team that currently has a head coach wanted to gauge Harbaugh’s interest.
That raises some questions about the head-coach hiring process in the NFL, where the Rooney Rule is supposed to guarantee that at least two minority candidates will get interviews for any head-coaching job. But if some team is going to fire its current coach specifically to hire Harbaugh, then no minority candidate is going to get anything other than a sham interview to comply with the Rooney Rule.
Basically, some team that currently has a head coach in place reached out to Harbaugh’s agent to find out whether Harbaugh would accept the team’s offer. If Harbaugh says yes, the team would fire its current head coach. Then the team would find two minority candidates to come in for an interview to satisfy the Rooney Rule. Then the team would hire Harbaugh.
That might technically constitute compliance with the Rooney Rule, but it wouldn’t sit right with anyone who thinks the Rooney Rule should represent real opportunities for minority coaches, rather than offering only the appearance of opportunity for minority candidates.
If another team fires its head coach, that team will immediately face scrutiny about whether it’s opening a legitimate coaching search, or whether it has already decided that its next head coach is John Harbaugh.
