What is the Rooney Rule? Origin, success and how it tackled racial inequality in American Football

Ground breaking: coaches Lovie Smith (left) and Tony Dungy
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The FA’s decision to adopt the Rooney Rule comes 15 years after its inception in the United States, where it has had a far-reaching impact.

The trigger for its origins came in 2002 when Tony Dungy and Dennis Green were fired as coaches of NFL teams the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Minnesota Vikings respectively.

In a league where 70 per cent of players are African-American, those sackings meant there were just two black and ethnic minorities (BAME) head coaches in the NFL.

American Football was under heavy criticism for its lack of diversity among its managers and in 2003 it brought in the new rules, named after the then Pittsburgh Steelers president Dan Rooney.

He had also been the former chairman of the league’s diversity committee and he spearheaded the proposal that required every team in the league to interview at least one candidate from an ethnic minority for a head coaching role.

It was apt that Dungy, the part catalyst for its inception, should become the first African-American to lead a team to Super Bowl glory, in his case at the helm of the Indianapolis Colts in 2007. Dungy, though, had already been appointed to his own position with the Colts prior to the Rooney Rule but its impact was far wider reaching and continues to be today.

By 2011, there was a high of eight BAME head coaches, which dropped back down to just four in 2013.

As of 2018, that number is now back to its record high of 2018, the most recent appointments back in 2017 of Vance Joseph and Anthony Lynn, at the helm of the Denver Broncos and Los Angeles Chargers respectively.

Between 2007 and 2016, a total of 10 Super Bowl franchises had either a BAME head coach or general manager. The NFL has been draconian in its punishment if teams fail to adhere to the Rooney Rule.

Soon after its implementation in 2003, the Detroit Lions were fined $200,000 after they hired Steve Mariucci without interviewing any other candidates for the post.

It has been questioned since, more recently this month with the Oakland Raiders’ desire to appoint Jon Cruden as head coach but still going through the process of interviewing a minority candidate, in this situation seemingly no more than a box-ticking exercise. But as an NFL spokesman pointed out: “We believe the Rooney Rule was complied with; minorities candidates were interviewed.”

Long-time Chicago Bears coach Lovie Smith was the first BAME coach to lead his side to a Super Bowl, with his side qualifying for the match a day before Dungy’s side went through. When he steered the team to the 2007 finale, which ended in defeat, he admitted that, “I’m here because of the Rooney Rule” and that it had helped “speed up the process a little”.

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