Any NFL Network (or, as of Saturday, ESPN) employees who are brainstorming questions for Commissioner Roger Goodell’s annual Super Bowl press conference on Monday should probably tread lightly, when it comes to one specific topic.
Former NFL Media reporter Jim Trotter found himself out of work after posing pointed questions to Goodell regarding NFL Network newsroom employment practices during consecutive Super Bowl press conferences. Trotter’s contract was not renewed. Trotter sued.
“The NFL has claimed it wants to be held accountable regarding diversity, equity and inclusion,” Trotter said in a statement when he filed the lawsuit. “I tried to do so, and it cost me my job.”
The NFL settled the case. Since then, however, “DEI” has been Frank Luntz’d into a rallying cry against the principles that underpin the acronym. Over the past year, the current administration has aggressively attacked DEI programs, in both public and private employment.
Enter the NFL’s now-completed hiring cycle (unless Klint Kubiak gets a case of Josh McDaniels-style cold feet). Of the 10 new head coaches, only one is a minority: Titans coach Robert Saleh. None are Black.
When Brian Flores sued the league and multiple teams, four years ago Sunday, the civil complaint included a lengthy quote from NFL executive V.P. of football operations Troy Vincent regarding the league’s long-term deficiencies when it comes to hiring Black coaches in a sport composed predominantly of Black players.
“There is a double standard, and we’ve seen that,” Vincent said. “And you talk about the appetite for what’s acceptable. Let’s just go back to . . . Coach [Tony] Dungy was let go in Tampa Bay after a winning season. . . Coach [Steve] Wilks, just a few years prior, was let go after one year . . . Coach [Jim] Caldwell was fired after a winning season in Detroit . . . It is part of the larger challenges that we have. But when you just look over time, it’s over-indexing for men of color. These men have been fired after a winning season. How do you explain that? There is a double standard. I don’t think that that is something that we should shy away from. But that is all part of some of the things that we need to fix in the system. We want to hold everyone to why does one, let’s say, get the benefit of the doubt to be able to build or take bumps and bruises in this process of getting a franchise turned around when others are not afforded that latitude? . . . [W]e’ve seen that in history at the [professional] level.”
The open hostility to DEI from the top of the nation’s government has sparked a general backlash, emboldening some to throw the letters around like some new form of slur. And so, given that the Rooney Rule (which the NFL has not abandoned) continues to be the league’s primary device for encouraging diversity, equity, and inclusion, the current climate will not be welcoming to any arguments advanced on the basis that the concerns spelled out by Troy Vincent continue to linger.
Three years ago, NFL Players Association executive director DeMaurice Smith co-authored an article in the Yale Law and Policy Review pointing out the failure of the NFL and its teams to face accountability for a situation in which the raw numbers speak volumes. Smith’s article called for, among other things, an admission that the Rooney Rule has failed — and the elimination of it.
“The NFL faces neither shareholder nor consumer accountability,” the article explained. “There is no public board of directors, there are no public compliance or audit reports, there are virtually no federal or state mandated public disclosures, nor government operational oversight. All of this should be surprising — and profoundly troubling — given the tax benefits, special antitrust treatment, stadium funding, and other publicly enabled benefits that the NFL and its member teams have enjoyed for generations.”
For at least the next three years, there will be no governmental oversight. If anything, the league faces scrutiny for continuing to maintain the Rooney Rule. The cancellation of the league’s 2025 accelerator program prompted concerns that the NFL is pulling back its diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts. Goodell, when pressed about the development in May, displayed sensitivity on the subject.
It all sets the stage for Monday’s Super Bowl press conference. What will Goodell be asked about the latest hiring cycle? About the accelerator program? About the league’s commitment to a subject about which it claims to remain vigilant, at a time when any vigilance may invite a late-night, all-caps, thank-you-for-your-attention-to-this-matter attack from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue?
Commanders Clips
The Broncos are getting closer to finding a new offensive coordinator.
Via reporter Jordan Schultz, Denver has interviewed Commanders assistant head coach/passing game coordinator Brian Johnson for the vacancy.
Johnson, 38, served as Philadelphia’s offensive coordinator in 2023 but was fired after one season. He had previously been the team’s quarterbacks coach from 2021-2022 with Shane Steichen serving as offensive coordinator.
He has been with Washington under head coach Dan Quinn since the 2024 season, helping Jayden Daniels become AP offensive rookie of the year.
The Broncos fired offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi earlier this week. The team’s offensive pass game coordinator/QBs coach Davis Webb is regarded as one of the favorites to land the job.
Former NFL tight end Vernon Davis, who has pivoted to acting in the years after his playing career ended, faces criminal charges.
Via TMZ.com, a woman has accused Davis of attacking her with “magazines and books” during a May 2025 argument over her pregnancy. Davis allegedly offered the woman $10,000 to get an abortion.
She also contends that, in a later incident, Davis slapped her.
A warrant for Davis’s arrest was issued on January 8, accusing him of assault and battery. A court date is set for February.
The sixth overall pick in 2006, Davis spent nine years with the 49ers. During the 2015 season, he was traded to the Broncos. He signed with Washington in 2016, spending his final four years there. He last played in 2019.
A former Steelers player and Mike McCarthy assistant is set to interview for the vacant defensive coordinator position in Pittsburgh.
Longtime Steelers reporter Mark Kaboly reports that Commanders defensive pass game coordinator Jason Simmons will interview with the team.
Simmons was a Steelers fifth-round pick in 1998 and he played 51 games for the team before moving on to Houston for the final six years of his playing career. He joined McCarthy’s staff in Green Bay in 2011 as a defensive assistant and eventually became the Packers’ defensive backs coach.
Simmons remained with the Packers through 2019 and moved on to stints with the Panthers and Raiders before joining the Commanders in 2024.
The Commanders are hiring Vikings defensive passing game coordinator and defensive backs coach Daronte Jones as their new defensive coordinator, Adam Schefter of ESPN reports.
Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores also interviewed for the job in Washington before agreeing to a new deal with Minnesota.
Jones joined the Vikings’ staff in 2022 as the defensive backs coach, and he added the title of passing game coordinator the following season. He has worked under Vance Joseph, Mike Zimmer and Flores.
Jones has also worked for the Dolphins (2016-17) and the Bengals (2018-19).
He was LSU’s defensive coordinator in 2021.
The Commanders fired defensive coordinator Joe Whitt on Jan. 6, but head coach Dan Quinn had taken over play-calling duties after Week 10. They finished last in yards allowed and 27th in points allowed.
The Commanders are interviewing another defensive coordinator candidate on Sunday.
Tom Pelissero of NFL Media reports that they are meeting with Vikings defensive passing game coordinator Daronte Jones. Jones has been linked with several other teams looking for defensive coordinators this month, although the Cowboys and Packers have now filled their openings.
Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores also interviewed with the Commanders, but he wound up agreeing to a new deal in Minnesota.
Jones has been on Minnesota’s staff since 2022 and has had his current title since 2023. He was the defensive coordinator at LSU in 2021 and previously worked as a defensive backs coach for the Bengals and Dolphins as well.
The Browns have added another name to their list of head coaching candidates.
They announced that they interviewed Commanders running backs coach/run game coordinator Anthony Lynn on Saturday. Lynn also interviewed for the Bills’ head coaching job this weekend.
Lynn has been on Dan Quinn’s staff in Washington for the last two seasons. He had a similar role on the 49ers’ staff in 2022 and 2023 and spent the 2021 season as the Lions’ offensive coordinator.
Prior to those jobs, Lynn went 33-31 over four seasons as the Chargers’ head coach. They went to the playoffs once in that run and won in Baltimore before losing to the Patriots in January 2019.
The Browns have held second interviews with Jim Schwartz, Todd Monken and Grant Udinski. They are expected to speak to Rams pass game coordinator Nate Scheelhaase this week and interviewing him and Lynn will satisfy the Rooney Rule requirements needed for the Browns to hire their next head coach.
The Bills interviewed Commanders run game coordinator and running backs coach Anthony Lynn on Saturday, the team announced.
Lynn finished his second season with Washington in those roles in 2025.
He worked on Buffalo’s staff under head coach Rex Ryan in 2015-16 . He was promoted to assistant head coach/offensive coordinator two weeks into the 2016 season after Greg Roman’s firing.
He finished that season as the interim head coach for the season finale, a 30-10 loss to the Jets.
In 2017, Lynn was a finalist for the Bills’ head coaching job, which went to Sean McDermott.
The Chargers hired Lynn during that same hiring cycle, and he went 33-31, including a 1-1 playoff record, in four seasons.
Lynn served as the Lions’ offensive coordinator in 2021 before two seasons as the assistant head coach and running backs coach in San Francisco.
The Bills also have Dolphins defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver, Bills offensive coordinator Joe Brady, former Giants head coach Brian Daboll, Colts quarterback Philip Rivers, Colts defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo and Jaguars offensive coordinator Grant Udinski as candidates to replace Sean McDermott.
The Commanders have interviewed another candidate to run their defense.
Nicki Jhabvala of TheAthletic.com reports that they have interviewed Teryl Austin for the position. Austin has been in the same role with the Steelers since 2022 and was the secondary coach and senior defensive assistant in Pittsburgh from 2019-2021.
Austin has also been the defensive coordinator for the Bengals and Lions as well as a defensive backs coach for several other teams.
Seahawks pass game coordinator Karl Scott, former Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon, Raiders defensive coordinator Patrick Graham, Chiefs defensive line coach Joe Cullen, and Bears defensive backs coach Al Harris have also been linked to the job. Brian Flores also interviewed for the job, but has since agreed to an extension with the Vikigns.
Bears defensive backs coach and passing game coordinator Al Harris interviewed with the Packers for their defensive coordinator job on Wednesday. He will also interview for the Commanders’ defensive coordinator opening, Jeremy Fowler of ESPN reports.
The Bears led the NFL in interceptions with 23 this season, which was Harris’ first in Chicago.
Harris began his NFL coaching career with the Dolphins in 2012.
He also has coached with the Chiefs (2013-18) and Cowboys (2020-24) and was a defensive assistant at Florida Atlantic in 2019.
Harris also carried the title of assistant head coach in Dallas in 2024.
The Packers are replacing Jeff Hafley, now the head coach of the Dolphins, and the Commanders fired defensive coordinator Joe Whitt Jr.
Former Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon, Eagles defensive backs coach and passing game coordinator Christian Parker and Vikings defensive passing game coordinator Daronte Jones are among other candidates for the Packers’ opening.
The Commanders have completed interviews with Chiefs defensive line coach Joe Cullen, Seahawks defensive backs coach and passing game coordinator Karl Scott and Gannon.
