Now in his 14th season as head coach of the Steelers, Mike Tomlin has seen coaches come in go during his tenure with the Steelers.
What he hasn't seen is more minority coaching hires.
Speaking on "Good Morning Football" Thursday morning, Tomlin noted that there have been times during his tenure that there have been as many as eight minority head coaches in the league. As we enter the 2020 season, that number stands at four. In college football, just 14 of the 130 football programs have a minority head coach.
"From that perspective, it is a joke. It needs to be addressed," Tomlin said.
Steelers president Art Rooney II, a member of the NFL's Diversity Committee, agrees.
"I understand the frustration of Coach Tomlin and others around the NFL as it relates to diversity issues," Rooney said. "I think our Diversity Committee took some important steps this past offseason to improve our policies and processes in order to enable more equitable opportunities for minority candidates in the League. We hope to see some results in the near future. However, we also understand that more work needs to be done."
To that point, Tomlin has joined a coalition of coaches and administrators on the newly formed National Coalition of Minority Football Coaches. The group, created by University of Maryland head coach Michael Locksley, will work to identify and groom coaches of color (male and female), but also create a candidates list that will be vetted by its board for use by teams looking for coaches.
Others on the board include Alabama head coach Nick Saban, former Browns and Ravens GM Ozzie Newsome, former NFL GM Bill Polian and current NFL GMs Chris Grier (Dolphins) and Rick Smith (Texans), as well as some college coaches in addition to Locksley.
"These are all people that have either hired head coaches or coordinators or filled upper-level positions throughout their careers," Locksley told NFL.com. "They all have been at the top of the mountain, per se, in their respective areas, whether winning Super Bowls or national championships or being pioneers.
"We want to use their experiences to help us formulate and produce the list of qualified candidates, so when people say there aren't enough minorities to fill the positions that have come open over the years, we're going to produce a list of qualified people that shows there are qualified people. What's needed is opportunities."
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