Ryan Clark: NFL’s Rooney Rule has ‘become a joke’

The Rooney Rule is a NFL policy that requires teams to interview ethnic minority candidates for head coaching and senior football operations positions. The rule was created to help minority coaches, but ESPN’s Ryan Clark isn’t convinced it’s effective.

Clark particularly took issue with the way the New England Patriots approached the rule in their recent hiring of Mike Vrabel as their next head coach. After firing the minority head coach Jerod Mayo after just one season, the organization quickly interviewed former offensive coordinators Pep Hamilton and Byron Leftwich to comply with the Rooney Rule.

Then, instead of waiting for other coaches to finish the NFL playoffs, the Patriots hired Mike Vrabel. On Thursday, Clark called out the Patriots organization for its actions.

“I think it highlights the Rooney Rule, which, to me, the New England Patriots made fun of,” Clark said. “To interview Pep Hamilton and Byron Leftwich, two coaches who aren’t even in football right now, just to fill a quota. The Rooney Rule was put in place, so that some of these minority coaches could have an opportunity to get in front of some of the management and some of these owners, who were really looking to give the job to the best person.

“Now, I want to be clear: I believe we have reached a point where organizations will hire the best person they feel is best for the job. But let’s not make coaches, who have worked all their lives for this opportunity, a symbolic interview.”

Clark didn’t just criticize the Patriots and the regime. He also offered a possible solution to his doubts.

“I think a better solution would be for teams that want to ignore the Rooney rule, like the New England Patriots probably would have done, because they wanted Mike Vrabel, to allow them to hire someone at the lower level who reports directly to the head coach, reports directly to the offensive coordinator, so they can get some of that tutelage that allows their resume and their career to grow,” Clark said.

“When this was initially implemented, I think it worked. … It has now run its course and become something that is a joke to the NFL and NFL coaches, and more importantly, to the people it was supposed to help.

The NFL began the 2024 campaign with a record nine minority head coaches. However, three of those coaches have since been fired.