The NFL’s Flawed DEI Program Still Beats What Most Companies Are Doing
The much-disliked Rooney Rule doesn’t seem so bad right now.
Since the Supreme Court’s 2023 ruling to end affirmative action in college admissions, corporate America has come under pressure from emboldened conservative activists to end diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. The reelection of President Donald Trump, who signed an executive order eliminating federal DEI programs, has only hastened their demise: On Jan. 24, for example, Target Corp. became the latest major company to announce a rollback.
The NFL’s main DEI initiative is the Rooney Rule, adopted in 2003 to help increase the number of minority coaches and executives in the league. (It’s named after Dan Rooney, the late owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers, who was then chairman of the NFL’s Workplace Diversity Committee.) The rule states, among other things, that “clubs must conduct an in-person interview with at least two external diverse—minority and/or female—candidates for any GM or head coaching” position. There’s never been a female head coach in the NFL, though the Cleveland Browns were interested in talking to former Secretary of State (and lifelong Browns fan) Condoleezza Rice in 2018, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter. And there likely won’t be one soon.