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For all its good intentions, the Rooney Rule doesn't work
By Jennifer Floyd Engel
jenfloyd@star-telegram.com
A question arrived via The E-mail Machine on Monday that, quite honestly, stumped me.
Why, if Ray Sherman was good enough to be considered for the Cowboys head-coaching job, is he not good enough to be one of your Genius Boy's coaches?
The answer is he wasn't really. And I don't know.
Let's dispense with the ugly truth first: Sherman was not actually considered by the Cowboys to coach the Cowboys. He was merely interviewed. It is quite a difference in NFL circles actually, a politically correct sleight of hand to appease Rooney Rule requirements.
The proper phraseology, I am pretty sure, is "token interview."
And it is why the Rooney Rule has become a joke. The Rooney Rule says every NFL team looking for a coach has to interview a minority candidate -- even if they already know whom they are hiring, even if their interim coach won the job, even if they tapped a coach-in-waiting, even if the team in question has absolutely zero intention of hiring the minority coach.
The idea is noble. Actually good.
For the longest time, and right now as well, any coaching opening in the NFL was and is still met with a list of the same old retreads. It did not matter how many times certain dudes had failed elsewhere. They still found their way onto the short list. It is how Chan Gailey landed in Buffalo after massive fail elsewhere, and Wade Phillips somehow managed three kicks at the can, and how John Fox, 10 seconds from his Carolina meltdown, already is being listed as a legit contender for a couple of openings. NFL owners are not exactly risk takers, by nature. They like guys they have heard of, guys who are not risks, even though Pittsburgh coach Mike Tomlin is proof that sometimes the best coach is the one you have never heard of and interview only because rules make you.
That said, why does there have to be a rule to prevent NFL owners from being idiots? If these guys cannot figure out that it would behoove them to interview a wide array of candidates, including a couple of minority coaches with look-at-me résumés, why help them?
Let them be idiots. Let them lose.
Let them lose to Tomlin with another retread.
Why do we have to legislate common sense in this country? Because what it sets up is situations like the Cowboys situation. Everybody knew Jason Garrett was getting the Cowboys job. And it was a good hire, too, a young and up-and-coming coach they had zeroed in on years ago who had proven himself by stepping into a horrendous situation with a 1-7 team and finding a way to win.
Nobody can blame Jerry for hiring him.
The ugly started when the league forced the Cowboys to bring in Sherman and Miami's Todd Bowles, too, for fraudulent interviews. This was not how the Rooney Rule was supposed to work, and does very little for anyone involved.
Sherman is a good coach, actually a fine coach.
He has dealt with every headache imaginable during his time in Dallas, from the manic and volatile T.O. years to the train wreck that has been Roy Williams. He may indeed make a good head coach someday, or right now. He may be better than half of the coaches in the league. He may be better than The RHG. What the guy did not need was a fake interview. It is demeaning, and silly.
Or look at this Miami situation.
That crazy old coot who owns the Dolphins went flying all around the 48 trying to woo Jim Harbaugh to coach his team -- that currently was being coached by Tony Sparano. It was tacky, and pathetic. And if somehow Harbaugh had decided to take his talents to Miami along with LeBron, they would have had to delay his Jim Gray special until after a token minority candidate was interviewed.
And this helps minority coaches how exactly? Do you think Sherman is running around today, telling his friends and other teams he interviews with, "Hey, I was up for the Cowboys job."
This brings us to the other part of the question. Why did The RHG not want him back?
The truth: I have no idea.
Maybe, he thought Sherman coddled the receivers. Maybe, there was still bad blood from the T.O. secret meeting stuff. Maybe, he just wanted a fresh start. Maybe, he wanted Sherman to have a chance to be an offensive coordinator, which Garrett was filling with the Cowboys. I don't know. Nor do I know if Garrett screwed up by not keeping him.
What I do know for sure is this is the first real proof that Owner Jones really is allowing The RHG to pick his own coaches. If Jerry is in charge, Sherman is back.
Jason is. So he is not.
Time will tell if that is the right decision. What is obvious right now is that the Rooney Rule just did what even Owner Jones could not, muck up the hiring of the Cowboys coach.
Jennifer Floyd Engel
817-390-7697
Looking for comments
Read more: http://www.star-telegram.com/2011/01/10/2758955/for-all-its-good-intentions-the.html##ixzz1AjMpqTYY
By Jennifer Floyd Engel
jenfloyd@star-telegram.com
A question arrived via The E-mail Machine on Monday that, quite honestly, stumped me.
Why, if Ray Sherman was good enough to be considered for the Cowboys head-coaching job, is he not good enough to be one of your Genius Boy's coaches?
The answer is he wasn't really. And I don't know.
Let's dispense with the ugly truth first: Sherman was not actually considered by the Cowboys to coach the Cowboys. He was merely interviewed. It is quite a difference in NFL circles actually, a politically correct sleight of hand to appease Rooney Rule requirements.
The proper phraseology, I am pretty sure, is "token interview."
And it is why the Rooney Rule has become a joke. The Rooney Rule says every NFL team looking for a coach has to interview a minority candidate -- even if they already know whom they are hiring, even if their interim coach won the job, even if they tapped a coach-in-waiting, even if the team in question has absolutely zero intention of hiring the minority coach.
The idea is noble. Actually good.
For the longest time, and right now as well, any coaching opening in the NFL was and is still met with a list of the same old retreads. It did not matter how many times certain dudes had failed elsewhere. They still found their way onto the short list. It is how Chan Gailey landed in Buffalo after massive fail elsewhere, and Wade Phillips somehow managed three kicks at the can, and how John Fox, 10 seconds from his Carolina meltdown, already is being listed as a legit contender for a couple of openings. NFL owners are not exactly risk takers, by nature. They like guys they have heard of, guys who are not risks, even though Pittsburgh coach Mike Tomlin is proof that sometimes the best coach is the one you have never heard of and interview only because rules make you.
That said, why does there have to be a rule to prevent NFL owners from being idiots? If these guys cannot figure out that it would behoove them to interview a wide array of candidates, including a couple of minority coaches with look-at-me résumés, why help them?
Let them be idiots. Let them lose.
Let them lose to Tomlin with another retread.
Why do we have to legislate common sense in this country? Because what it sets up is situations like the Cowboys situation. Everybody knew Jason Garrett was getting the Cowboys job. And it was a good hire, too, a young and up-and-coming coach they had zeroed in on years ago who had proven himself by stepping into a horrendous situation with a 1-7 team and finding a way to win.
Nobody can blame Jerry for hiring him.
The ugly started when the league forced the Cowboys to bring in Sherman and Miami's Todd Bowles, too, for fraudulent interviews. This was not how the Rooney Rule was supposed to work, and does very little for anyone involved.
Sherman is a good coach, actually a fine coach.
He has dealt with every headache imaginable during his time in Dallas, from the manic and volatile T.O. years to the train wreck that has been Roy Williams. He may indeed make a good head coach someday, or right now. He may be better than half of the coaches in the league. He may be better than The RHG. What the guy did not need was a fake interview. It is demeaning, and silly.
Or look at this Miami situation.
That crazy old coot who owns the Dolphins went flying all around the 48 trying to woo Jim Harbaugh to coach his team -- that currently was being coached by Tony Sparano. It was tacky, and pathetic. And if somehow Harbaugh had decided to take his talents to Miami along with LeBron, they would have had to delay his Jim Gray special until after a token minority candidate was interviewed.
And this helps minority coaches how exactly? Do you think Sherman is running around today, telling his friends and other teams he interviews with, "Hey, I was up for the Cowboys job."
This brings us to the other part of the question. Why did The RHG not want him back?
The truth: I have no idea.
Maybe, he thought Sherman coddled the receivers. Maybe, there was still bad blood from the T.O. secret meeting stuff. Maybe, he just wanted a fresh start. Maybe, he wanted Sherman to have a chance to be an offensive coordinator, which Garrett was filling with the Cowboys. I don't know. Nor do I know if Garrett screwed up by not keeping him.
What I do know for sure is this is the first real proof that Owner Jones really is allowing The RHG to pick his own coaches. If Jerry is in charge, Sherman is back.
Jason is. So he is not.
Time will tell if that is the right decision. What is obvious right now is that the Rooney Rule just did what even Owner Jones could not, muck up the hiring of the Cowboys coach.
Jennifer Floyd Engel
817-390-7697
Looking for comments
Read more: http://www.star-telegram.com/2011/01/10/2758955/for-all-its-good-intentions-the.html##ixzz1AjMpqTYY
