(02-05-2022, 08:12 PM)I am Yoda Wrote: Bullseye’s main point is a good one. It is unreasonable that someone like McCown (and others) get these opportunities over much more qualified candidates who happen to be ethnic minorities.  I’m not sure why that is. I suspect it is because when you’re hiring for the most important, upper positions in your company, you’re looking for a level of comfortableness that includes they talk and sound and look like me. I think that probably an unconscious bias. But it is a bias nonetheless.

On the other hand, for a small number of the candidates it may be that the way they verbally present themselves hinders them. The example I’m thinking of is when I have heard Eric Bieniemy speaking on miked up tape. I don’t think that should be a barrier. He’s obviously very well qualified. But that same hindrance is not there for someone like Flores or Leftwich or Caldwell or Morris or any number of the other coaches.

In 2022 we would like to think that this kind of garbage no longer exists. But apparently it does exist in some of the highest reaches of corporate life. Anything that is based on ethnic bias, either way, any way, is completely out of bounds and has no place in our society.

I think I agree with you.  The problem isn't overt bias.   But it's the way head coaches are hired, after extensive interviews by owners, who often cite things like "fit," as in "is he a good fit" which has nothing to do with qualifications and everything to do with the owner's comfort level with that person.  At the point where you have several highly qualified candidates, it becomes very subjective, and the choice is usually being made by an old rich white guy who not only wants someone he is comfortable with, but also has a (often subconscious) mental image of what a head coach looks like.  (I have nothing against old rich white guys, by the way.)

Beyond that, the owners are often self-made men with big egos and are not prone to self-examination on things like this.  

"Yes, we need to hire more black head coaches" is an abstract concept when an owner has his own head coach opening and wants to select not only the best qualified candidate, but also the person he is comfortable being around and interacting with and to whom he is entrusting his team's future.   

When you look at the open head coach positions each year, and the candidates who are interviewed and hired, there's no doubt that white people have a built-in advantage in landing these positions.  How to fix it in a manner that is fair to everyone is a tough question.  You have to fix the actual root of the problem, which is, in my opinion, an inherent bias among the owners in favor of white candidates.  I don't think quotas or monetary rewards would fix that at all.  In fact, it might make it worse.  The only fair way to fix this, in my opinion, is for the owners to engage in some honest self-examination about how they do their hiring.

As for our own situation, no one can argue that we didn't hire the most qualified candidate.  And if we hire Spielman, no one can argue that he wasn't the most qualified candidate either.

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