Bad optics, NFL. Just bad.
This is the week when another installment of the league’s ambitious coaching accelerator program – designed to bolster diversity efforts – was slated to kick off in conjunction with the NFL owners meeting in Minnesota.
But that prime opportunity to connect up-and-coming coaches with team owners has been punted into hiatus by the NFL, pegged to return in some reimagined fashion next year.
Why give it the hook now?
It reeks of politics, silly.
For all the declarations from Commissioner Roger Goodell and other key voices in the NFL maintaining that the league is holding firm to its commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion principles (and for all that the league has done in that area) putting the accelerator on ice makes the league look rather weak in the face of anti-DEI forces.
President Donald Trump’s administration has waged an all-out war on DEI. More than 30 states have passed or introduced legislation that eliminates or restricts DEI initiatives. So many companies in corporate America have buckled and rolled back DEI commitments. Now is the perfect time for the socially-conscious NFL to keep its accelerator program front and center (even with tweaks) as a clear statement that doubles down on its DEI pledge.
Instead, it seems like the USA’s most dominant sports league is backpedaling.
“I realize that people are going to look at this and say, ‘These people are backing off,” Pittsburgh Steelers owner Art Rooney II, chair of the NFL’s diversity committee, told USA TODAY Sports. “That’s not going to happen. There’s nothing I can really do about that perception, except to say that we’re still not satisfied with where we are, and we recognize that we still have work to do.”
Still, in this political climate, it’s hardly a stretch to think that the NFL, which typically strategizes and messages in textbook fashion, isn’t putting up its guard to lessen the risk that it could become a huge target for Trump’s anti-DEI message.
Isn’t some of that a factor in the NFL’s decision to pause its accelerator program?
“I don’t want to…I think it just makes us all aware,” Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones told USA TODAY Sports. “The emphasis the president puts on it just makes us all aware and thinking about it.”
Uh oh. Taking a lead from the bully president. Now that would be a shift. And rather sickening. Trump, remember, immediately blamed DEI for a midair collision on January 29 at Reagan Washington National Airport that cost the lives of 67 people, irresponsibly and hatefully spewing venom while first responders were still recovering bodies from the Potomac River.
No, regardless of his political power, the NFL would squander so much credibility in taking DEI cues – like Major League Baseball − from Trump.
“I know you’re saying, ‘Was this a reaction to that? And the timing of it?” Jones continued, pondering the accelerator action against the anti-DEI backdrop. “I don’t believe and have seen nothing from talking to anybody, that this is a reaction to that. I think you’d be naïve if you didn’t think the Supreme Court decisions have impacted decisions all over the country. The issue of technically, how and what you’re doing, I think that’s a lot more influenced than anything our president is talking about.
“You see what I’m saying? The overall direction the Supreme Court took, that whole area would be a bigger impact.”
Jones was referring to the Supreme Court’s ruling in 2023 that significantly restricted race-conscious admissions for colleges. It added juice for so many entities in corporate America to justify scaling back DEI measures – and most notably efforts from some companies that flowed as a response to the heinous police killing of George Floyd, a Black man, in 2020.
Will the NFL’s DEI policies remain consistent?
It will be interesting to see whether the NFL – which recently replaced its retired general counsel with Ted Ullyot, a high-profile attorney with extensive ties to the Republican Party and Trump administration – follows through on its word over the long haul when it comes to DEI.
During the week of Super Bowl 59 in New Orleans in February, Goodell sounded quite convincing when I asked whether the NFL would stick to its stated DEI principles in the face of the incoming administration and trends in corporate America.
“We got into diversity efforts because we felt it was the right thing for the National Football League, and we’re going to continue those efforts because we’re not only convinced ourselves, I think we’ve proven ourselves that it does make the NFL better,” Goodell said.
He also insisted that the NFL’s DEI policies would remain “consistent” from one presidential administration to another. He added: “We’re not in this because it’s a trend to get into or a trend to get out of it.”
The day after Goodell made those remarks, Mike Silver revealed in a report in The Athletic that the NFL would not display its “End Racism” messaging in the end zone for Super Bowl 59, with Trump on the verge of becoming the first sitting president to attend a Super Bowl.
What an odd coincidence, if it was that. Regardless, after using the slogan for years, it signaled an NFL message shift, weird timing and all. It was much more noticeable than it would have been if the league moved off the slogan during the offseason.
No, the NFL hasn’t touched its Rooney Rule, named after Art’s late father, Dan, who previously chaired the diversity committee. Established in 2003, it requires that teams interview minority candidates for head coaching vacancies (amended to include GM jobs and other roles).
While there has been significant debate over the years regarding the effectiveness of the rule, and the still-unresolved class-action suit led by Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores underscores longtime concerns by minority coaches that they were given “sham” interviews by teams seeking to merely check the box and comply with the rule, another type of dispute surfaced in February 2024.
America First Legal, a group founded by Trump adviser Stephen Miller, filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and sought an investigation into the NFL and its clubs, alleging reverse-discrimination because of initiatives such as the Rooney Rule that are designed to support DEI. Apparently, the complaint didn’t spark any investigation to this point, and no white coach has come forward alleging reverse-discrimination.
Another ‘eyesore’ for the NFL: Zero Black offensive coordinators hired this cycle | Opinion
Yet the spirit of that threat can’t be ignored in this political climate. And with Trump signing an executive order in March that resulted in the EEOC and Justice Department launching investigations into the diversity programs of 20 top law firms, the NFL is surely paying attention.
“Am I nervous the league will be attacked? There are a lot of things we’re attacked on,” Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank said to a group of media that included USA TODAY Sports, during the last NFL owners meeting in April. “Some of which I understand, some of which I don’t, personally.”
Blank was on the diversity committee more than two decades ago when it crafted the Rooney Rule. He mentioned the reaffirmation that came from a committee meeting in March and like Rooney, Goodell, and other league officials, was adamant that the league would not pivot on DEI matters in the wake of Trump’s second term.
“We’re committed to exactly the same behavior that we have had, and seeing the improvements we’ve had,” Blank said. “Sometimes, it’s been two feet forward, a foot-and-a-half back, or three feet forward and two back, but generally speaking, we’re moving the ball, progressively, down the field.”
He alluded to increased diversity beyond coaching and football operations, which include the business side that now includes the presence of four Black team presidents. When the NFL celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2019, a team had never had a Black president.
“I think there’s real progress that’s been made, but there’s always work that has to be done,” Blank added. “I think the league is absolutely committed to the work, regardless of any situation that we may find.”
Interestingly, a day after Blank spoke publicly on the topic, the NFL wrapped up its first owners meeting in several years without what had become a staple: a media briefing from the diversity committee.
And whatever happened to the diversity action committee – a collection of outside experts − that the NFL established in 2022? Totally out of sight.
‘We’re not where we want to be’
In any event, other programs under the DEI umbrella remain intact. Since 2022, each NFL team has been required to have a minority offensive assistant, an entry-level position that bolsters the pipeline. The ninth annual women’s forum was held at the combine in Indianapolis in February, connecting candidates for football operations roles in the pro and college ranks. In June, the NFL will support the Black College Football Hall of Fame in staging its annual Ozzie Newsome GM Forum and Quarterback Coaching Summit in Atlanta. And the NFL is still providing funds to the Players Coalition to support social justice causes.
“We’re still going to be doing most of the things we’ve done in the past,” Rooney said. “I think the biggest factor is that we recognize we’re not where we want to be.”
It’s striking, though, that the NFL has scrapped the word “diversity” from one promising program. What was previously the “NFL Diversity in Sports Medicine Pipeline Initiative” has this year been renamed the “NFL Sports Medicine Pipeline Program.” The venture places medical school students with NFL teams for a clinical rotation with medical staffs during training camp. Established in 2022 with 14 students from four HBCU medical schools rotating among eight teams, the program has grown to include most, if not all NFL teams. Last year, students from 21 medical schools (HBCU schools and predominantly white schools) participated in the program that was established to increase diversity in the pipeline for potential medical and athletic training staffs.
Taking “diversity” out of the program’s title makes me wonder if it’s a response to the bigger picture attacks on DEI.
“Some of the language has been tweaked,” Rooney acknowledged. “Personally, I don’t think it’s going to make a big difference in the attendance or the people that will attend. I do think some of these things, we do have to open it up to a broader field of participants.”
That will likely be the case with the “reimagined” accelerator program, which is slated to come back in May 2026 with the previously separate coaching and front office components combined into one program. When it comes back, I’d be shocked if the accelerator was limited to minority candidates.
Of course, Rooney maintains that the program, launched in 2022, has been tabled for a makeover rather than as a response to political pressure.
Has the NFL made progress in their diversity efforts?
“We’ve been doing the accelerator basically in the same format, with a lot of the same faces, for several years,” he said. “I think it was starting to get a little stale.”
Rod Graves, executive director of the Fritz Pollard Alliance, is giving the league the benefit of the doubt when it comes to motives for putting the accelerator on ice. Graves, whose organization promotes and monitors minority hiring, maintains the program has “significant merit” as it includes an array of lectures, seminars and networking events.
“Like anything else, you get out of it what you put into it,” Graves told USA TODAY Sports. “I’ve seen candidates get a lot out of it. And I’ve seen some show up and go through the motions. Same for owners…I’ve also seen some owners come well-prepared with a list of candidates they want to speak with. It’s intentional.
“All of these programs are eventually judged on the outcomes,” Graves added. “At some point if the effectiveness of the program doesn’t match up to the expectations, they’ll question the return on investment – both the candidates and the owners.”
Clearly, the acceleration has been slow coming. In three years, just two of the program’s participants – New York Jets coach Aaron Glenn and since-fired Tennessee Titans general manager Ran Carthon – landed top jobs.
What that means for the accelerator and other programs moving forward remains to be seen. Said Graves: “Are we able to say the program is leading to hirings? I don’t think we can avoid that.”
Hardly. And especially in this climate.
Follow Jarrett Bell on social media: @JarrettBell