Smith brought the “Rooney Rule” into question.
Stephen A. Smith has been very vocal about the things he dislikes in the world sports. Today on First Take, Smith voiced his displeasure with what’s been going on in terms the NFL head coaching searches. So far, every team in need a new coach has hired a white person and it doesn’t seem as though they’ve interviewed any African-American suitors. Of course, this goes against the “Rooney Rule” which demands teams interview a diverse range candidates in order to be fair.
Smith argued that the “Rooney Rule” doesn’t work and that teams don’t really care about it. The Giants hiring relatively unknown New England Patriots special teams coach Joe Judge, seems to have been the catalyst for this rant. In many ways, Smith brings up a great point as there are very few African-American head coaches.
For now, the Cleveland Browns are the only team who hasn’t hired a new head coach. They are the team that could break the mold although many the names brought up in relation to the Browns are white. While many fans might not care about such matters, it’s important to note that diversity should be important to the league as it ultimately allows for a wide variety qualified individuals to get opportunities.
As it stands, the “Rooney Rule” has proved to be ineffective in this fseason. It will be interesting to see if the league makes any amendments to the rule after these latest hires.