COACHING AND CRAYONS

I love the NFL almost as I love basketball but there are a few things that keep me from going all the way in. I think they are the best marketers, currently have the most popular product and cover all bases with respect to media and TV coverage. You can now watch an NFL game on Thursday, Saturday (mostly during the playoffs), Sunday and Monday. The NFL has their own network and the programming they've added in recent years including "A Football Life" and "NFL Timeline" are very good.

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What isn't very good is the hiring of Minority Coaches. With the latest coaching carousel that's taken place we once again see the lack of fairness in elevating Black Coaches and the subsequent hiring of Head Black Coaches. We've seen Lovie Smith unceremoniously shuttled from Tampa Bay after getting Jameis Winston settled into becoming a professional quarterback revealing his potential many thought was an illusion. The Buccaneers was admonished in and around the league as being unfair in the process having never proven they have a true plan in place for long term success again. With the hiring of Lovie many thought he was part of their long term plan, which we now see was an illusion. Pep Hamilton who was the play caller for the Indianapolis Colts and Andrew Luck was let go in the middle of the season as if his previous double digit win seasons with Luck never existed. Add to that his Pro-Bowl QB Luck had a season ending injury missing more than half the games, and it begs to questions what is fair and equitable when it comes to Black Coaches.

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And now the current hirings are coming in like poll results and the returns aren't favorable for Coaches of Color, Hue Jackson notwithstanding. Hue got hired and deservedly so. But why was Hue ever fired in Oakland in the first place with an 8-8 record and eliminating their penchant for losing seasons. Why wasn't that enough without using the last four games as a catalyst for a need to change? You tell me because the same thing happened to Lovie in Chicago and what have they done since he left playoff wise? And now Chip Kelly who imploded the entire Philadelphia Eagles organization gets hired again by the San Francisco 49ers having entered the league as a head coach without any coaching experience in the NFL nor a national championship at the collegiate level. And it was announced this past weekend that Mike Mularkey, who hast won anywhere he's been a Head Coach in the NFL, gets yet another chance to succeed when others haven't been given their first. Meanwhile qualified Coaches of Color still watch and wait going through the Rooney Rule process which is more akin to an exercise in futility at times. Former NFL Head Coach Herm Edwards called the Rooney Rule dangerous in some respects saying the effects of the mandated interviewing of minority coaches makes some owner say "He's been interviewed 3 years in a row and no one else has hired him so why should we." And we wonder did they interview him to consider him a head coach or to say we're being compliant? Statistics would say the latter. What happens when the Rooney Rule works? You get Mike Tomlin, Marvin Lewis and you also get success. Say what you want about the Cincinnati Bengals, but they can be proud of what they've done with Marvin, Leslie Frazier, Hue Jackson, Van Joseph, Jay and John Hayes and the Minority Coaches Internship. Three of their Black head coaches have left to become coordinators or Head Coaches.

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I wish the owners of the NFL looked at hiring coaches like a box of crayons. The more colors you have the more versatility you have in creating a masterpiece. Judging by some the poor performances shown year in and and year out by some teams (with losing records) you would think they'd open up their minds to hiring someone who doesn't look like them, think like them and exclusively relate to them. Even the uniforms in the league are an assortment of colors from the bland Chicago Bears uniforms of yesteryear to the mustard color uniforms of the Jacksonville Jaguars, a wide array of colors are everywhere in the NFL with the exception of the Head Coaching ranks. I will add one side note: I'm proud to be in a division where 3 of the 4 Head Coaches are now black with Tomlin, Lewis and Jackson. Too bad the league can't follow the AFC North. I mean after all that's where the best football is played and programs are made. Hue Jackson will confirm this in 2-3 years without a doubt. There are 8 Super Bowl Championships in the division and many more Super Bowl appearances in the AFC North, not bad huh?

So how do we cure the current dilemma for Coaches of Color? Look at your Coaches specifically Head Coach, offensive and defensive coordinators and put them in a crayon box. How many colors do you have? Can't color a masterpiece with one color crayon. That's the way I see it sitting in The Box Seat. I'm Wayne Box Miller.