To be honest, I think the Rooney Rule does more harm than good.  If I was a black head coach or front office candidate, I would walk into every interview wondering “Are they legitimately interested in me, or am I just here to comply with the Rooney Rule?”  I would prefer there not to be a Rooney Rule so that I know that if  I’m asked for an interview, it’s because the team has legitimate interest.

(This is in reference to the process of hiring an EVP in general and hiring Spielman in particular.)

The Rooney Rule was made with good intentions. I believe it actually opens the door to at least make teams to interview black coaches they might not have otherwise considered and maybe they end up making a really positive impression that might change someone's opinion. At the end of the day though, you hire the candidate you want, no matter what color they are. You shouldn't try to force teams to hire certain people based on skin color. There are a lot more white coaches and Coordinators than there are blacks, so naturally, the number of people hired is gonna be very skewed. If a black coach/coordinator really does well, he'll get his chance. 

As for anyone pointing to Eric Bieniemy, as a symbol of "racial injustice," I truly believe that he hasn't been hired as a head coach, not because of his skin color, but because of his sketchy past. Bringing him in as a HC, would be a P.R. nightmare.

The Rooney rule did good but it’s being fleeced into infamy with the mock interviews franchises are doing. 

Changes need to be made. Keep the spirit but find a way to genuinely help the people it’s harming right now.

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Also, what if in a twist of irony we interview Wilson for the Rooney rule and end up hiring him?

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I'm just now watching the presser. Very earnest guy. Not necessarily the most polished speaker but that's ok as long as he can turn this team around. He's saying it's not an overnight fix and he's right so appreciate that he's not trying to blow smoke.

Pederson sounds like a MLK Jr type of speaker compared to how Shad sounded that presser. I've never seen someone fumble over his words so badly trying to answer questions that he had to know were coming.

Khan is lucky he's not dealing with the Dallas sports media. They would have eaten him alive.

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Pederson sounds like a MLK Jr type of speaker compared to how Shad sounded that presser. I've never seen someone fumble over his words so badly trying to answer questions that he had to know were coming.

Khan is lucky he's not dealing with the Dallas sports media. They would have eaten him alive.

Forget Dallas imagine NY? Aye carumba

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Khan is lucky he's not dealing with the Dallas sports media. They would have eaten him alive.

Forget Dallas imagine NY? Aye carumba

---

"What do I know of cultured ways, the gilt, the craft and the lie? I, who was born in a naked land and bred in the open sky. The subtle tongue, the sophist guile, they fail when the broadswords sing; Rush in and die, dogs - I was a man before I was a king."

The Rooney Rule was made with good intentions. I believe it actually opens the door to at least make teams to interview black coaches they might not have otherwise considered and maybe they end up making a really positive impression that might change someone's opinion. At the end of the day though, you hire the candidate you want, no matter what color they are. You shouldn't try to force teams to hire certain people based on skin color. There are a lot more white coaches and Coordinators than there are blacks, so naturally, the number of people hired is gonna be very skewed. If a black coach/coordinator really does well, he'll get his chance. 

As for anyone pointing to Eric Bieniemy, as a symbol of "racial injustice," I truly believe that he hasn't been hired as a head coach, not because of his skin color, but because of his sketchy past. Bringing him in as a HC, would be a P.R. nightmare.

The Rooney rule did good but it’s being fleeced into infamy with the mock interviews franchises are doing. 

Changes need to be made. Keep the spirit but find a way to genuinely help the people it’s harming right now.

---

Also, what if in a twist of irony we interview Wilson for the Rooney rule and end up hiring him?

The league would be much better off just putting some kind of monetary incentive on it.

Something like, for every person any team's coaching staff or in their front office who is white they pay into a league fund, and at the end of the season, that fund is split up evenly among the teams. That way the teams that do nothing but hire white guys end up having to pay out, while teams that hire a lot of minorities end up coming out ahead.

The problem with the Rooney Rule is it doesn't do anything to actually incentivize hiring of disadvantaged people, it just pays lip service to the effort.

---

The Rooney rule did good but it’s being fleeced into infamy with the mock interviews franchises are doing. 

Changes need to be made. Keep the spirit but find a way to genuinely help the people it’s harming right now.

---

Also, what if in a twist of irony we interview Wilson for the Rooney rule and end up hiring him?

The league would be much better off just putting some kind of monetary incentive on it.

Something like, for every person any team's coaching staff or in their front office who is white they pay into a league fund, and at the end of the season, that fund is split up evenly among the teams. That way the teams that do nothing but hire white guys end up having to pay out, while teams that hire a lot of minorities end up coming out ahead.

The problem with the Rooney Rule is it doesn't do anything to actually incentivize hiring of disadvantaged people, it just pays lip service to the effort.

This was an idea that was put out there by the NFL not too long ago I believe. They were kicking the idea around of offering up additional draft picks for teams that hired minorities. 

This was in 2020:
https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nf...234064002/

This is from last year:
https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/20...explained/


It's actually in effect.

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"What do I know of cultured ways, the gilt, the craft and the lie? I, who was born in a naked land and bred in the open sky. The subtle tongue, the sophist guile, they fail when the broadswords sing; Rush in and die, dogs - I was a man before I was a king."

The league would be much better off just putting some kind of monetary incentive on it.

Something like, for every person any team's coaching staff or in their front office who is white they pay into a league fund, and at the end of the season, that fund is split up evenly among the teams. That way the teams that do nothing but hire white guys end up having to pay out, while teams that hire a lot of minorities end up coming out ahead.

The problem with the Rooney Rule is it doesn't do anything to actually incentivize hiring of disadvantaged people, it just pays lip service to the effort.

This was an idea that was put out there by the NFL not too long ago I believe. They were kicking the idea around of offering up additional draft picks for teams that hired minorities. 

This was in 2020:
https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nf...234064002/

This is from last year:
https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/20...explained/


It's actually in effect.

It's a weird incentive since it actually only incentivizes putting minorites in lower positions and hoping someone else (that doesn't benefit) promotes them.

I'm a fan of the kind of scheme I mentioned in lots of areas. It can be used to incentivize behavior in a desired direction in a lot of ways.

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Not really. There were twitter stories about Spielman being the guaranteed choice but the team never said that. He was nothing more than the first person they interviewed. They can interview other candidates now and choose the best fit. If it happens to be Spielman, so be it. If they choose someone else, same thing. 

The only problem is if there were some documented evidence that the Jags offered Spielman the job this past week and then set up the interviews.

---

Yeah, I caught that too. I thought it was an odd choice of words.

I didn't think it was odd at all.  I think it was an odd question.   What Khan was saying was, why would I announce that I am keeping someone who is already under contract?

You make a good point about Spielman.  And, I think there might be a lot of pressure from the league for us to hire a minority in that spot.  On the other hand, I would assume an EVP would be someone with GM experience, since he will be over the GM.  He needs to be able to step in as GM if that is called for.  There are not a lot of ex-GMs that are minorities.  So it would be hard to find a minority candidate for that spot, unless you get an ex-coach like Caldwell.

In addition, and I think this might become a very important factor, there will be a lot of pressure now on minority candidates not to take part in sham interviews.  Watch out for that.

I want a former GM and not a former coach for the EVP position.  I have faith in Doug Pederson to handle the coaching.  I have little to no faith in Trent Baalke to handle the personnel side.  We need someone who is experienced on the personnel side.

I'm not overly concerned about finding minority candidates to interview.  Even if they know it is a sham, some will still see it as being beneficial to themselves.  It gets their name out there in the press.  It raises their stature to be considered for an EVP position.  It can be used as leverage if they are interviewing somewhere else for whatever job.  It's also an opportunity to impress an NFL owner.  Even if the candidate doesn't get the EVP job, what if Baalke is fired a year from now?  Perhaps they go back to that guy who impressed in the EVP interviews to be the new GM.  People will interview.

---

Forget Dallas imagine NY? Aye carumba

Haha. Yeah the media around the jags are very nice and gentle. They did ask questions today that were hardcore for them.

Imagine if people from this board were there asking questions?

Question #1

Balkie why havent you stepped down yet, and when can we expect you to announce it?

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Just confirmed evp incoming over Baalke. Spielman appears to be a pretty much done deal.

Which means this or next off season is bye bye Baalke. Thank [BLEEP] God.

---

That's a scary quote. Everyone knows we need Baalke spending more time on FA.

https://twitter.com/Tanked4Trevor/status...5624921094

---

Haha. Yeah the media around the jags are very nice and gentle. They did ask questions today that were hardcore for them.

Imagine if people from this board were there asking questions?

Question #1

Balkie why havent you stepped down yet, and when can we expect you to announce it?

I don't even ask him a question. I look at Shad and then point directly at Baalke. 

---

That's a scary quote. Everyone knows we need Baalke spending more time on FA.

https://twitter.com/Tanked4Trevor/status...5624921094

Yeah. I would have balked at Baalke in real time after hearing that in person at the press conference. I hope it's Khan just playing politics for now. Praying like hell it's Spielman, Smith, somebody at an EVP level announced next week and Baalke is [BLEEP] canned the day before free agency officially starts. That would be perfect. If not.... 

---

"What do I know of cultured ways, the gilt, the craft and the lie? I, who was born in a naked land and bred in the open sky. The subtle tongue, the sophist guile, they fail when the broadswords sing; Rush in and die, dogs - I was a man before I was a king."

Haha. Yeah the media around the jags are very nice and gentle. They did ask questions today that were hardcore for them.

Imagine if people from this board were there asking questions?

Question #1

Balkie why havent you stepped down yet, and when can we expect you to announce it?

I don't even ask him a question. I look at Shad and then point directly at Baalke. 

---

That's a scary quote. Everyone knows we need Baalke spending more time on FA.

https://twitter.com/Tanked4Trevor/status...5624921094

Yeah. I would have balked at Baalke in real time after hearing that in person at the press conference. I hope it's Khan just playing politics for now. Praying like hell it's Spielman, Smith, somebody at an EVP level announced next week and Baalke is [BLEEP] canned the day before free agency officially starts. That would be perfect. If not.... 

I don't see any reason to do this, clearly Khan thinks he's bringing something to the table, but as long as he's not the guy in charge and isn't the only guy Khan is trusting then it probably doesn't matter. At this point it looks like he's going to be a glorified scout for Spielman and Pedersen, since Khan wouldn't specify that Baalke has control, and they're bringing in someone to be above him, which is fine. With Spielman and Pedersen in place I see a bright future for the team, and nothing else really matters except for the team finally succeeding.

---

Baalke obviously isn't going to be fired at this point, but directing his focus even more toward FA is the absolute last thing I'd let him do. Every single player and agent in the league hates him, having him even more in charge of the FA show is mentally handicapped.

---

Feels like Baalke is here to stay. He's got no business evaluating, acquiring, recommending, signing, developing, or otherwise having anything to do with talent for this team. Love the Pederson hire, but we are still walking with a limp if we keep Baalke

---

The Rooney rule did good but it’s being fleeced into infamy with the mock interviews franchises are doing. 

Changes need to be made. Keep the spirit but find a way to genuinely help the people it’s harming right now.

---

Also, what if in a twist of irony we interview Wilson for the Rooney rule and end up hiring him?

The league would be much better off just putting some kind of monetary incentive on it.

Something like, for every person any team's coaching staff or in their front office who is white they pay into a league fund, and at the end of the season, that fund is split up evenly among the teams. That way the teams that do nothing but hire white guys end up having to pay out, while teams that hire a lot of minorities end up coming out ahead.

The problem with the Rooney Rule is it doesn't do anything to actually incentivize hiring of disadvantaged people, it just pays lip service to the effort.

That way they can be sure they are actually getting hired because they are the best candidate...oh wait no they won't be they will be getting hired because their boss is being charged to hire the other guy. 

The very first thing that needs to happen is people need to stop assuming everything is based on skin color. Just because a black person doesn't get hired doesn't mean it's racist. The second thing in my opinion that needs to happen is a there needs to be a way to get as close to equal representation allowed. Meaning at the ground floor of hiring the NFL needs to have (and I know these numbers aren't accurate but should give an idea) like 100 coaching candidates every year. In order to be included in the 100 you need to have graduated and gotten a coaching degree. Or been a former player at either college or pros. Have some criteria that needs to have been met in order to get selected into the 100. This 100 will be the only "minority" quota part. So like 50% needs to be minorities. Then teams can employ new coaches out of those 100. So like assistants or strength coaches, whatever would be given to a freshly graduated coach would go to these newbies. Then as they got more experience they advance. After a few years the NFL coaching ranks would be made up of these individuals (because a new 100 are added every year). 

Once a team goes to fill a big time coordinator or HC role they need to interview the to 16 teams candidates. For the HC role the top 16 from each major coordinator position. Then narrow it down from there. If your team is in the upper half of the league, you get to interview, that should eliminate all need for Rooney rules and once times because over the course of time the NFL will fill up with more and more minorities. 

This isn't perfect, but I feel it would be better than paying owners to hire minorities and better than forcing them to do fake interviews just to satisfy a rule.

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"Don't argue with an idiot, people watching may not be able to tell the difference."

Seriously, there are only 32 of these jobs in the entire world. It's no surprise that there is only one black coach. It's almost impossible to be so lucky to get one of these jobs period.

---

The league would be much better off just putting some kind of monetary incentive on it.

Something like, for every person any team's coaching staff or in their front office who is white they pay into a league fund, and at the end of the season, that fund is split up evenly among the teams. That way the teams that do nothing but hire white guys end up having to pay out, while teams that hire a lot of minorities end up coming out ahead.

The problem with the Rooney Rule is it doesn't do anything to actually incentivize hiring of disadvantaged people, it just pays lip service to the effort.

That way they can be sure they are actually getting hired because they are the best candidate...oh wait no they won't be they will be getting hired because their boss is being charged to hire the other guy. 

The very first thing that needs to happen is people need to stop assuming everything is based on skin color. Just because a black person doesn't get hired doesn't mean it's racist. The second thing in my opinion that needs to happen is a there needs to be a way to get as close to equal representation allowed. Meaning at the ground floor of hiring the NFL needs to have (and I know these numbers aren't accurate but should give an idea) like 100 coaching candidates every year. In order to be included in the 100 you need to have graduated and gotten a coaching degree. Or been a former player at either college or pros. Have some criteria that needs to have been met in order to get selected into the 100. This 100 will be the only "minority" quota part. So like 50% needs to be minorities. Then teams can employ new coaches out of those 100. So like assistants or strength coaches, whatever would be given to a freshly graduated coach would go to these newbies. Then as they got more experience they advance. After a few years the NFL coaching ranks would be made up of these individuals (because a new 100 are added every year). 

Once a team goes to fill a big time coordinator or HC role they need to interview the to 16 teams candidates. For the HC role the top 16 from each major coordinator position. Then narrow it down from there. If your team is in the upper half of the league, you get to interview, that should eliminate all need for Rooney rules and once times because over the course of time the NFL will fill up with more and more minorities. 

This isn't perfect, but I feel it would be better than paying owners to hire minorities and better than forcing them to do fake interviews just to satisfy a rule.

Quotas for hiring have never gone over well in any field. If you're placing quotas on hiring then you're even worse off than monetarily incentivizing the hiring of minorities.

It's like I said, if the NFL wants to make it happen, and I don't know that they do, then there needs to be a cost and reward system put into place. With my idea if all the teams have the same minority representation then no one ends up paying anything, but if that number is still too white then any team can come along and hire a bunch of minorities and reap the benefits. The system eventually reaches a state of equilibrium where no team is profiting from it because they all have reasonably hired the qualified black candidates, and no teams are likely to give up on winning to get a few dollars a year extra hiring people that are unqualified to do the jobs.

---

Feels like Baalke is here to stay. He's got no business evaluating, acquiring, recommending, signing, developing, or otherwise having anything to do with talent for this team. Love the Pederson hire, but we are still walking with a limp if we keep Baalke 

Baalke will undermine the EVP and HC during the season with leaks. He was a poor talent evaluator in SF and was a marginal participant in FA.  As long as he’s GM, the team will never find success and players will move on and flourish elsewhere.

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Baalke during the press conference

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