Steelers coach Mike Tomlin made his first remarks against the NFL’s most recent hiring cycle in public during an appearance for HBO’s “Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel.” He’s not the first former player to voice his opinions.
Following another offseason in which seven new hiring were made, but only one of them was a Black candidate (Houston’s David Culley), Gumbel centres his analysis on Tomlin and the reasons why there are only three Black head coaches in the league. In the episode that airs at 10 p.m., the winningest Black head coach in NFL history as of 2020 took a strong stand on the matter, just like he has in the past. Tuesday evening.
You were present in the room when this was discussed in the owners’ meetings. Early in the show, Gumbel presents Tomlin with the following: “I know you hear the right things, but as African-Americans, all of us are used to hearing stuff and knowing bull [expletive] when we hear it.” The programme then focuses on how former Steelers team president Dan Rooney sponsored “The Rooney Rule” league-wide and then hired Tomlin to replace Bill Cowher a few years later.
I don’t know if it is at the time,” Tomlin responds, “but I know that the results are, you know?”
Tomlin would also say: “Where we are is unacceptable.”
Later in the about 12-minute-long clip, Tomlin makes some more insightful comments. Paradoxically, he has grown to dislike giving talks at diversity coaching candidate clinics since, in his opinion, those kinds of workshops suggest that minority coaches are less experienced.
That idea also resonates with Ray Horton, who served as the Steelers’ secondary coach from 2004 to 2010 and helped the team win its two most recent Lombardi Trophies. Foote is a former linebacker for the Steelers and is currently the linebackers coach for the Super Bowl-winning Buccaneers.
Leave a Reply