With so few minorities in key team positions like head coach and General Manager, the NFL instituted an accelerator program for candidates to meet with team owners in a more informal setting.
The idea was for the potential candidates to expand their networks while giving ownership groups the opportunity to get to know more people who should be on their radar for jobs.
New Titans G.M. Ran Carthon first met the team’s owner, Amy Adams Strunk, from that program in the fall, when he was still the 49ers director of player personnel. Carthon said during his Tuesday press conference at the Combine that he sees the benefit of it. But he also noted that it’s only going to work for others if teams approach it the right way.
“I think the accelerator kind of enhanced — I mean, let’s be honest, people want what winners have,” Carthon said. “And so, anytime you’re looking to hire someone, whatever the position is, they start with winning organizations because you want to emulate that. My resume got me to a point. But then the accelerator actually got me in the room with owners who I otherwise wouldn’t have had the opportunity to. The only owner that you have constant contact with is the one that owns the organization that you work for.
“The accelerator got me in the room with Miss Amy. I don’t know where else I would’ve possibly met Miss Amy. But, again, it’s more than just the accelerator program. It’s the people participating in it because everybody can show up. But you have to be intentional when you show up.
“I think when the Titans got there, I guess it was in December, they were intentional. Granted, it was a long line to talk to them because it was a job that was open and everybody wanted to put their best foot forward. But I appreciate the fact that they were intentional. And, again, if you look at their interview list that they interviewed in the process and who their finalists were, the good majority of those people were at the accelerator program.”
Carthon is a success story from the program, but he is only one. If the program is to truly be successful in increasing minority hires across the NFL, team owners will have to be the driving factor.