Coming into the early part of this NFL offseason there were seven head-coaching availabilities. As the dust settled on hirings there were only two minorities hired, which NFL commissioner Roger Goodell states he and the league are dissapointed in.
“I’m not sure there’s an issue we spent more time with our ownership on,” Goodell said during his Super Bowl presser. “Our ownership is committed and focused on this.”
The two minority coaches were New York Jets’ Robert Saleh and Houston Texans’ David Culley, rounding out the number of minority coaches in the league to five.
Advertisement
“It’s much broader than just head coaches for us,” Goodell said. “But head coaches is important. And we put a lot of our policies and focus on that this year. As you know, we had two minority coaches hired this year. But it wasn’t what we expected, and it’s not what we expect going forward.”
One of the overlooked minority candidates is Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bienemy who is highly qualified and helps anchor one of the best offenses the league has ever seen.
“I’m excited about the opportunity that has been presented to me. The other stuff, I can’t control that,” Bienemy said during his press conference. “That is out of my control. The only thing I can worry about is today and moving forward what I need to do to help our guys be at their best come Sunday.”
“There’s a lot more diversity in the coordinator position also, and across the league,” Goodell said. “But we’re not satisfied. And we feel like we can do better, and we’re going to.”