The Rooney Rule

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/31/nfl-rooney-rule-broken-say-black-ex-coaches_n_2594344.html

The Rooney Rule has done a sufficient job at increasing minorities in NFL coaching and operations jobs. However there is debate whether it is still working. Some believe even though it forces each NFL organization to interview minorities for these positions, it is only to cover their grounds for this rule. Jim Caldwell, the previous coach of the Colts and the current Assistant Coach of the Baltimore Ravens said “It has been a great rule and it has worked in the past, but just like anything else, you have to, after a certain period of time, revisit it and take a look and see if it needs a little tweaking” (Huffingtonpost). Others also believe this such as Herm Edwards, the former coach of the New York Jets and Kansas City Chiefs and now a ESPN analyst. Edwards believes the rule is broken not because NFL teams aren’t hiring a minority every time, but they are approaching it with a ‘who is the guy to interview to get this out of the way?’ mentality (huffingtonpost).

While I believe extending the Rooney Rule to collegiate athletics would definitely have positive results, I think it will only go so far with out NCAA involvement. I think having a NCAA representative at each school specifically there to oversee the hiring process and be part of the rationale for hiring one person over another would put pressure on sustaining this rule. Another way to ensure success would be for the NCAA to expand the rule to not just coaching and operation jobs, but also athletic administration jobs. This will provide more opportunities and overall increase minority held positions. Overall, the rule needs to be continuously worked on to guarantee its existence in the sport world. Lastly, by implementing the rule with NCAA representation for each school, while expanding its outlines to cover coaching, operations, and athletic administration would guarantee its long-term success in collegiate athletics.