2021 NFL Season

[oldschoolcalgary]

Originally Posted by rubecube

If the NFL's defense is going to be the equivalent of "I'm not racist because I have a black friend," they're probably in for a world of hurt.

I think the challenge is trying to associate the NFL with what the Giants did...The NFL has the Rooney rule in place - I don't think they monitor every organization to ensure that the interviews are conducted fairly.

There's clearly an 'old boys club' in the NFL - its sad that that Mike Tomlin is the only black head coach in the NFL, and that it was the Steelers that in fact hired him over guys that were front runners in Ken Whisenhunt and Russ Grimm, both employed by the Steelers under Cowher. I have a ton of respect for Art Rooney, who really put his money where he mouth was. Tomlin had one year as at the coordinator level, but he killed it during the interview.

For the record, I was shocked the Dolphins let Flores go - now with the information that has come out on Ross, its a bad look for that organization.

I don't know what the solution is, but I think its tough to rope in the NFL when all the teams are owned by individuals who are conducting interviews and making the coaching decisions.

[corporatejay]

Funny coincidence. The mara family who owns the Giants are related by marriage to the Rooney family. Actress Rooney Mara is their namesake.

[devo22]

kudos to Flores for bringing to light what we all knew, basically. He knows his chances of ever working as a HC in the league are pretty much non-existent after this, so it takes guts to fall on the sword like this. Change is needed for sure, but I doubt anything substantial will happen, unfortunately. As long as the same old boys run the show, change will be slow and insignificant.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by rubecube

Show us you didn't read the lawsuit without telling us you didn't read the lawsuit. The point of Flores' lawsuit is that the Rooney Rule doesn't actually address the NFL's lack of diversity. It's just a checkbox. And he's right.

When guys like Adam Gase get multiple head coaching jobs despite never displaying any level of competence but guys like Lovie Smith, Jim Caldwell, and Flores who actually did admirable jobs in their positions lose their jobs and don't get another crack, something is definitely up.

NFL players make up 70% of the player pool but only 3% of active head coaches. Are we really to believe that disparity is solely based on competency?

You argument is flawed. Gase received two head coach opportunities and will never receive another. Lovie Smith and Jim Caldwell both have also received two head coach opportunities. Smith was 8-24 in Tampa and I personally don't think he's a very good head coach and understand why he doesn't get more opportunities. Caldwell probably deserves another chance but we all know a lot of head coach hires are hot, flavor of the day coordinators and former head coaches often have to wait to get their next job. Doug Pederson won a Super Bowl and it's now two hiring cycles that he hasn't got a sniff. He's not black and if Mike Tomlin for whatever reason become available I guarantee he would get hired the moment he was available because everyone knows he's a better coach than Pederson. I believe the majority of owners care about winning more than the color of skin of their head coach.

The thing about Flores is that he butted heads with the GM. A black GM that is still employed as the GM of the Dolphins. Also if it's true that the owner was upset he was winning games that's not a racist thing as I'm sure he would have been just as upset if the coach was white and still winning games against his request. It seems like Flores got fired because he didn't agree with the GM when it came to personnel, didn't work well with others (went through multiple coordinators in a short time) and was too principled a man for the likes of a slimy owner. I just don't know how that points to discrimination.

I just feel that the best thing Flores could have done help with diversity in NFL head coaching was to get another head coaching job and I think he would have. Now a black coach that had a bright future is now probably never going to coach again in the league. I just think it was the wrong time for him to pick this fight.

[CaptainCrunch]

I don't know how this can be proven in front of a court.



I mean the timing is suspicious of basically hiring a coach before interviewing others. However, all they have to say is that Flores had a bad interview, how do you prove he didn't. Or that his philosophy didn't match what the GM wanted to do.

[devo22]

meh. Will they be nicknamed Commies?

[Lubicon]

Originally Posted by Senator Clay Davis

Sounds like Harbaugh to the Vikings is all but done. Seems like a strange pairing, Vikes are close to needing a total rebuild and Cousins is Cousins. But he's the best coaching candidate by a wide margin based off previous NFL track record, so we'll see if he can replicate that 49ers run.

I suppose that division is pretty wide open if Aaron Rogers moves on from Green Bay so perhaps not a bad place to be.

Originally Posted by devo22

meh. Will they be nicknamed Commies?

Interesting they would only have 3 stars on the logo instead of 5. Maybe there's a story to that.

[oldschoolcalgary]

Originally Posted by Lubicon

I suppose that division is pretty wide open if Aaron Rogers moves on from Green Bay so perhaps not a bad place to be.



Interesting they would only have 3 stars on the logo instead of 5. Maybe there's a story to that.

I actually prefer Washington Football Team compared to 'Commanders'...

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by oldschoolcalgary

I actually prefer Washington Football Team compared to 'Commanders'...

Me too. Commanders seems like the type of name you would give an arena league football team.

[transplant99]

Line is now 4.5 48.5 in the majority of books.

Still think you see 6/6.5 and 50 by game time. Sharp money is still 9 days away.

[transplant99]

nm...wrong thread

[Senator Clay Davis]

https://twitter.com/user/status/1488672067390169091

https://twitter.com/user/status/1488678996367888385

https://twitter.com/user/status/1488676832648040453

https://twitter.com/user/status/1488678199265480705

More likely we see a draft lottery out this mess more than any meaningful changes for coaching hires.

[GreenLantern2814]

The NFL is a league that has only recently come around to the idea of letting black guys play quarterback.

Their unwillingness to make non-white men members of the front office should shock nobody.

[GirlySports]

Is anyone being paid to win?

[rubecube]

Originally Posted by Senator Clay Davis

More likely we see a draft lottery out this mess more than any meaningful changes for coaching hires.

This is really, really ugly with the legalized gambling component. I wonder if teams and the NFL could be liable for some form of fraud, too.

[SuperMatt18]

Wrong thread

[Erick Estrada]

I'm happy that this will probably lead to a draft lottery. It would be nice to see some of the 4 & 5 win teams that actually tried to win and failed get a top 3 pick over the perennial losers and tanking teams. Also LOL at Jackson trying to spin his historically poor coaching as a tank job. THere's a reason he will never work in the NFL again and it has nothing to do with race.

[Sainters7]

Originally Posted by rubecube

Show us you didn't read the lawsuit without telling us you didn't read the lawsuit. The point of Flores' lawsuit is that the Rooney Rule doesn't actually address the NFL's lack of diversity. It's just a checkbox. And he's right.

When guys like Adam Gase get multiple head coaching jobs despite never displaying any level of competence but guys like Lovie Smith, Jim Caldwell, and Flores who actually did admirable jobs in their positions lose their jobs and don't get another crack, something is definitely up.

NFL players make up 70% of the player pool but only 3% of active head coaches. Are we really to believe that disparity is solely based on competency?

He was actually interviewing with the Saints yesterday, and reportedly told the Saints ahead of time about what was about to break, they said come on down.

My money is still on them giving the job to DC Dennis Allen (still blows my mind he can't get a sniff anywhere) as they could keep their assistants that way and help keep the culture in place, but if it's not him I wanted Flores. After the Saints spending the past decade with a coach the NFL has a tumultuous relationship with, that'd be kinda funny if the next one is the same thing.

[devo22]

in other news, the Bills have hired Joe Brady to be their QB coach, after they promoted Ken Dorsey from QB coach to OC. Really interesting hire and I'm curious to see that dynamic going forward. Not a bad decision on Brady's part, working with one of the best QBs in the league for a year will certainly set him up for another OC job during the next cycle.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by Sainters7

He was actually interviewing with the Saints yesterday, and reportedly told the Saints ahead of time about what was about to break, they said come on down.

My money is still on them giving the job to DC Dennis Allen (still blows my mind he can't get a sniff anywhere) as they could keep their assistants that way and help keep the culture in place, but if it's not him I wanted Flores. After the Saints spending the past decade with a coach the NFL has a tumultuous relationship with, that'd be kinda funny if the next one is the same thing.

I think Allen could be a decent head coach and I've been surprised he's not got many interviews over the years. He was set up to fail with one of the worst rosters in NFL history when he was the Raiders head coach as McKenzie had to gut the team to get them out of the cap hell Al Davis left the team in.