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The Rooney Rule is a joke

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by Drip, Jan 9, 2010.

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  1. Bob Cook

    Bob Cook Active Member

    I like Jim Leonherd because he says Wisconsin correctly: "Wis-CAAAAHHHHNNN-sin."
     
    Bob Cook, Jan 11, 2010
    #61
  2. slappy4428

    slappy4428 Active Member

    It is what it is.
     
    slappy4428, Jan 11, 2010
    #62
  3. zagoshe

    zagoshe Well-Known Member

    Yes, what a horrible thing it would be for a franchise to want stabililty and to be able promote from within. I'm sure the Steelers are happy knowing they helped mentor a fabulous coach for another franchise in whisenhunt.
     
    zagoshe, Jan 11, 2010
    #63
  4. Drip

    Drip Active Member

    No question they had to take the lead on it. And it paid off handsomely.
     
    Drip, Jan 11, 2010
    #64
  5. outofplace

    outofplace Well-Known Member

    There would have been absolutely nothing wrong with them hiring Whisenhunt. It's hard to say that they should have gone that direction after they won a Super Bowl with Tomlin, but they definitely could have done it with Whisenhunt as well. Grimm? I'm not sold. The fact that he still isn't a head coach and may never get his shot makes me think they made the right call there.

    I have no doubt that Tomlin only got the interview becuase of the Rooney Rule. The Steelers had one outstanding internal candidate and another pretty good one. There was no other reason to look outside. I doubt they are complaining about how it worked out.
     
    outofplace, Jan 11, 2010
    #65
  6. zagoshe

    zagoshe Well-Known Member

    Obviously Tomlin worked out - again we're getting into specifics -- my point was more general - if an organization has a bright young coach like Whisenhunt already on staff and the head coach leaves or resigns, then why make them go through a charade instead of just promoting the guy they have already groomed.
     
    zagoshe, Jan 11, 2010
    #66
  7. outofplace

    outofplace Well-Known Member

    I get your point. I do. Just saying that the Tomlin hire answers your question. To make sure somebody like that gets a look when he wouldn't have had an opportunity otherwise. I don't think it is a perfect rule. Far from it. But it is better than not having the rule at all.
     
    outofplace, Jan 11, 2010
    #67
  8. zagoshe

    zagoshe Well-Known Member

    According to at least one paper in town -- Grimm was hired which should scare the hell out of Steelers fans that he, and not Whisenhunt, was the guy on staff being considered........

    I think he'd be a disaster
     
    zagoshe, Jan 11, 2010
    #68
  9. outofplace

    outofplace Well-Known Member

    Wasn't that after Whisenhunt had decided not to wait and took the Arizona job?
     
    outofplace, Jan 11, 2010
    #69
  10. Boom_70

    Boom_70 Well-Known Member

    It would help their case if they learned to speak in a Latin dialect.
     
    Boom_70, Jan 11, 2010
    #70
  11. Drip

    Drip Active Member

    I guess knowing the spanish words for marijuana and cocaine doesn't count, eh?
     
    Drip, Jan 11, 2010
    #71
  12. The Big Ragu

    The Big Ragu Moderator Staff Member

    Have just scanned this thread, so maybe missed some posts.

    1) Someone brought up Mike Tomlin.
    2) The Rooney Rule has already served its purpose. And it did a fantastic job. There had been only five black head coaches in the history of the league and only two minority coaches in the NFL in 2003 when they instituted the rule, in a league in which about 70 percent of the players are African American. The following year there were five and there have been six or seven every year since, including two super bowl winners in the last three years.
    3) Charade or not in many cases, it forced teams to confront what was latent discrimination. And combined with a program run by the league to get more minorities into coaching, you see more assistant coaching positions held by minorities, too, than you did 20 years ago, which means there will be more qualified to be head coaches.
    4) Anyone who sticks to the whole charade argument need only look at the NCAA D-I coaching ranks. They haven't instituted the charade and they also haven't seen the progress the NFL has seen in terms of the number of minority head coaches. Things aren't perfect in the NFL with regard to this issue, but this rule has certainly had a positive effect in just getting guys interview experience, forcing teams that were not considering minorities to lift their heads out of the sand, and in one or two cases actually getting a guy who was just brought in as a token interview the job.

    It is a hamhanded approach in some ways, but it has worked. And no one had any better alternative to get teams that spent decades not hiring minorities to start considering some and actually giving them jobs.
     
    The Big Ragu, Jan 11, 2010
    #72
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