'Positional segregation': Why are 93% of NFL running backs coaches Black?
For more than 30 years, NFL teams quietly avoided hiring Black assistants to coach certain position groups, mostly those in the middle of the field like quarterback or the offensive line.
"This is unfortunately part of our league’s history," said Hall of Fame coach Tony Dungy, who got his first assistant coaching job in 1977.
In some ways, history hasn’t changed.
Nearly two decades after the implementation of the Rooney Rule, Paste BN Sports compiled and analyzed demographic information for all 722 on-field coaches in the NFL this season.
The analysis reveals that, even in 2022, there are stark racial disparities between coaches of different position groups – evidence of subconscious stereotypes that helped funnel white assistants to coordinator and head coaching positions while stunting the progress of their Black counterparts.
One example: 29 of the league’s 31 running backs coaches this season – or 93% – are coaches of color.
"That’s what you might call positional segregation," said Cyrus Mehri, co-founder of the Fritz Pollard Alliance, a non-profit organization that champions diversity in the NFL.
"Just as we had a long march for breaking barriers on the field, breaking through with the 'thinking person' positions, we’re still seeing coaching segregation.'
Read the first part of our series looking into the NFL's systemic diversity problem and how it manifests.
- Graphic novel: A brief history of Black NFL head coaches.
- Cast of characters: Which NFL teams have the most diverse coaching staffs?
- 'Didn't look the part': The reasons Black coaches don't get NFL head coaching jobs.
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