{"id":28652,"date":"2022-02-09T03:15:00","date_gmt":"2022-02-09T03:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/?p=28652"},"modified":"2022-02-16T14:22:02","modified_gmt":"2022-02-16T14:22:02","slug":"new-evidence-of-discrimination-against-black-coaches-in-the-nfl-since-2018","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/new-evidence-of-discrimination-against-black-coaches-in-the-nfl-since-2018\/","title":{"rendered":"New evidence of discrimination against Black coaches in the NFL since 2018"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Joshua D. Pitts<\/a>, Kennesaw State University<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Boldly going where no NFL coach has gone before, recently fired<\/a> Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores put his future career at stake and filed a class-action lawsuit<\/a> against the league, the New York Giants, the Denver Broncos and the Dolphins, alleging discriminatory hiring practices among team owners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Coincidentally, a study I began working on in the spring of 2020 was published online<\/a> in the Review of Black Political Economy mere hours before Flores\u2019 lawsuit went public. My colleagues and I used data on all NFL offensive and defensive coordinators since the 2003 introduction of the Rooney Rule, which required all NFL teams to interview at least one minority candidate for vacant head-coaching jobs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We wanted to determine what factors were correlated with a coordinator\u2019s probability of becoming a head coach. Our results identified many factors that have impacted a coordinator\u2019s chances of landing a head-coaching job. One of those factors was the coordinator\u2019s race.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The study pays specific attention to the case of Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy<\/a>, who is Black.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before Flores\u2019 lawsuit was filed, Bieniemy had largely been the face<\/a> of the discussion surrounding Black football coaches<\/a>. What makes his case particularly interesting is the fact that two of his predecessors, who are both white, were quickly promoted to head-coaching gigs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many in the media have suggested that Bieniemy\u2019s lack of head-coaching opportunities can be attributed to racism<\/a>. In our study, we wanted to see if there was any validity to this claim.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A dead branch in Andy Reid\u2019s coaching tree<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When Andy Reid became head coach of the Kansas City Chiefs in 2013, his offensive coordinator was former NFL quarterback Doug Pederson, who is white. At the conclusion of the 2015 season, Pederson became head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Man
Doug Pederson won the Super Bowl in his second season as head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles. Kevin C. Cox\/Getty Images<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Pederson\u2019s replacement for the 2016 season<\/a> was former Minnesota Vikings head coach Brad Childress. In 2017, Childress remained with the Chiefs as assistant head coach, and Matt Nagy, who is white, was promoted<\/a> from quarterbacks coach to offensive coordinator. After only one season as Chiefs offensive coordinator, Nagy accepted a head-coaching offer from the Chicago Bears<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nagy\u2019s replacement was Bieniemy. During Bieniemy\u2019s tenure, the Chiefs have reached four straight AFC Championship games and two Super Bowls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Using the simple rating system<\/a> metric provided by Pro-Football-Reference.com, the Chiefs\u2019 worst offensive performance under Bieniemy\u2019s tutelage was better than any season for Pederson or Nagy. Yet Bieniemy, who was once again passed over in this year\u2019s hiring cycle<\/a>, still awaits his first head-coaching opportunity despite reportedly interviewing for 15 such positions as of February 2022<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What NFL owners like in a coach<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

We collected data on all 267 NFL coordinators between 2003 and 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to race, our model accounts for a coordinator\u2019s age; their years of experience as a coordinator; their years of NFL playing experience; what position they played in college; what positions they coached in the NFL; whether they had NFL or college head-coaching experience; whether they were an offensive or defensive coordinator; whether they were coaching under an offensive- or defensive-minded head coach; and their performance as a coordinator. The model also controls for the number of head-coaching vacancies each offseason.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our research revealed several potential reasons for why Bieniemy has yet to secure a job as a head coach in the NFL.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One could have to do with the position Bieniemy played and coached prior to becoming Chiefs offensive coordinator: running back. NFL owners seem to devalue experience playing or coaching this position in their head coaches. Of the 32 head coaches to begin the 2021 NFL season, none were former running backs. Excluding special-teams positions, running back was the only position not played by at least one head coach for the 2021 season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pederson and Nagy are both former quarterbacks, which is a background NFL owners do value in head coaches. In fact, 12 head coaches in 2021 were former quarterbacks. Our model reveals that having played quarterback in college increases a coordinator\u2019s probability of becoming a head coach by nearly 10%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two strands of racial bias<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

At the same time, our research suggests that, even when you control for factors like previous playing and coaching experience, Bieniemy\u2019s race may have limited his head-coaching opportunities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First, we found a statistically significant difference in how NFL playing experience impacts the probability of becoming a head coach for Black and non-Black coordinators.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both Black and non-Black coordinators benefit from having played in the NFL. However, non-Black coordinators benefit more. Each additional year of NFL playing experience increases a non-Black coordinator\u2019s probability of becoming a head coach more than a Black coordinator\u2019s probability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Second, our research found that Black coordinators were simply less likely to be promoted to head coach between 2018 and 2020. However, there was no such evidence of this between 2003 and 2017.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These two findings \u2013 that Black coordinators have been less likely to be promoted since 2018 and that Black coordinators benefit less from NFL playing experience \u2013 are not concrete proof that NFL owners are discriminating against Black coordinators. Concrete proof would require us to know and account for every characteristic that owners consider when deciding who to hire as their head coach. This isn\u2019t possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the findings are \u201cconsistent with discrimination\u201d against Black coordinators. In other words, if owners are discriminating against Black assistants, you would expect results similar to ours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Using our model, we calculate that Bieniemy\u2019s probability of promotion in 2020 would have increased from 42.5% to 57.2% if his race weren\u2019t Black.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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