MIAMI — The NFL’s Rooney Rule is well intended, and absolutely needed to encourage diversity in positions of power within a league that has admitted it has had, and still has discriminatory hiring practices despite its minority filled workforce.

However, the rule that forces NFL owners and their search committee to interview not one, but now two minorities when it comes to their top level openings does little but serve as a speed bump, slowing owners down from hiring the person, or the desired target they initially wanted.

That explains why 10 head coach positions were open this cycle, and only one will be filled with a minority (new Tennessee Titans coach Robert Saleh, who is Lebanese).

Making matters worse was the fact that two minority coaches, and three minority general managers were relieved of their duties, and only one minority (Ian Cunningham) was hired.

“Diversity if good for us, but we still have more work to do,” commissioner Roger Goodell said Monday at the Super Bowl opening ceremony. “There has got to be more steps. We’re re-evaluating everything we’re doing ... We need to meet the challenges of today and tomorrow.”

I have no desire to defend any of the minorities who lost their job.

Dolphins general manager Chris Grier, who was in his role for 10 offseasons, drastically overstayed his welcome because of his poor performance.

Mike McDaniel, whose father is a black man, got fired by the Dolphins despite producing a 35-33 record in four seasons, with two postseason berths, and no playoff wins.

Even though McDaniel wasn’t exactly a failure, the Dolphins needed a culture change, which meant a fresh start was beneficial.

Raheem Morris got fired from his second NFL head coach post after two seasons, where he produced a 16-18 record, and general manager Terry Fontenot, another minority, got removed because the Falcons empowered Matt Ryan to be their top football executive.

Keep in mind Atlanta didn’t interview a minority for the top executive role before handing Ryan power to make decisions.

Minnesota Vikings general manager Kwesi Adofu-Mensah got whacked last week for doing exactly what he was hired for, using analytics to build a team. It’s likely he’ll be replaced by someone Minnesota head coach Kevin O’Connell trusts, and feels he can work with.

That’s how this league works.

Anthony Weaver had five interviews for this round of 10 openings.

While I have little doubt this former NFL starter, who has served as the Dolphins’ defensive coordinator for the past two seasons, will become a head coach eventually, this wasn’t his time.

Weaver’s defense was a disappointment last season, for various reasons, many of which weren’t his fault, like poor roster construction.

This was Weaver’s third year of being paraded around as one of the NFL’s top Rooney Rule candidates.

But if we’re being honest, he’s not going to get a job until some owner wants a scapegoat to take the bullets for a rebuilding/tanking period, which is what Brian Flores’ class action lawsuit is about.

Weaver could also deliver two to three seasons of a dominant defense, He could also start coaching offense and develop an upper echelon quarterback, which typically puts coaches on the fast track for advancement, or someone he’s formed a tight bond with gains power in an NFL front office.

This is how the business of professional football works, and the last one usually isn’t beneficial to minority candidates.

And the reason isn’t because NFL owners are subtly racist. It’s because the pipeline of available candidates isn’t strong enough.

More minority coaching programs are needed in the NFL and the college ranks, for both coaching and front office roles.

And former players should be the ones targeted, which is easy to do since a blind man/woman could have told you Brian Hartline (a long time Ohio State assistant who was named South Florida’s head coach recently) and Kelvin Sheppard (who just finished his first season as Detroit’s defensive coordinator) were destined to become coaches based on how they operated as players in their time with the Dolphins.

Calais Campbell is destined to become the next Ozzie Newsome when he eventually retires from being a player and someone opens that door for him. If Steve Ross has been exposed to him more in his one season in Miami the Dolphins owner might have considered him for the job that just got filled by Jon-Eric Sullivan.

Exactly what does Ryan have that Campbell doesn’t?

In my opinion, it comes down to exposure to viable candidates.

A solution might be tinkering with the enticement system, which rewards franchises with draft picks for having minorities elevated into front office and head coach roles. If it were extended to coordinator roles, say with a fifth-round pick being gained for someone’s elevation, it might create the outcome the league desires within the next decade.

The more qualified candidates, the more Weaver’s the NFL creates, the better chance the next Mike Tomlin has of breaking through the glass ceiling.

____

©2026 Miami Herald. Visit miamiherald.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.