Sham interviews. Flawed processes. Missed opportunities. The NFL’s troubling issue of interviewing coaches of color but rarely hiring them has become a vicious cycle.
According to USA TODAY Sports research, no coach has interviewed more frequently over the past two decades than Bowles, the current head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The 59-year-old, who is Black, has been up for at least 19 head coaching jobs over eight hiring cycles and been hired twice, most recently last year as the internal successor to Bruce Arians.
► Coaches of color received about 33% of the 769 publicly-reported interviews for head coach positions from 2003 to 2022. They were hired to fill 19.5% of those vacancies. "Watching this thing unfold for 35 years, it’s better — the league is much better. But the hiring process is always a mystery," former NFL coach and ESPN analyst Herm Edwards said.
Then, in 1994, Dungy said he wrapped up an interview with new Jacksonville Jaguars owner Wayne Weaver by asking the same question. This time, Dungy was told the Jaguars wanted a head coach who could also be the general manager. He had no interest or experience in holding both roles. Arizona State athletic director Ray Anderson, who was Dungy's agent at the time, said he doesn't remember the specifics of those early interviews. But he knows there were plenty of teams at the time who interviewed Black coaches just to check a box —" than will ever be known publicly," he said.
In reality, Dungy said, many owners have no idea what sort of tangible characteristics they want in a head coach.The Hall of Fame coach mentioned a conversation he had with one executive during the 2021 hiring cycle, who said his team's owner was set on hiring a young coach with offensive expertise who could help develop their quarterback. Dungy later saw the team interviewed Bowles, a veteran coach who specializes in defense.
Graves said he generally views an uptick in minority interviews, even among a small group, as a step in the right direction because it means they are getting more exposure. NFL executive vice president and chief administrative officer Dasha Smith also said the league carefully monitors the head coach interview process, doing what it can to identify and eliminate so-called sham interviews. She acknowledged, however, it is often"very difficult to know" which ones are illegitimate.
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