MIKE TOMLIN
Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin says he’s a “show me” kind of guy. Even after the NFL announced Monday, March 28, that all 32 teams must employ a “female or a member of an ethnic or racial minority” as an offensive assistant beginning with the upcoming season, Tomlin said he wants to see tangible proof of more diversity in the league’s coaching ranks rather than just through press releases.
“In recent years, head coaches have predominantly had offensive backgrounds,” the NFL said in, well, a press release. “We believe this resolution will assist greatly in continuing to source and identify diverse candidates earlier in their career, providing pipeline depth and furthering developing the diverse offensive pipeline.”
National Public Radio reported that for the roles, the NFL will reimburse teams up to $200,000 in 2022 and $205,000 in 2023 from a league fund for coaches.
There are seven Black general managers in the league and 12 women had coaching positions during the 2021 football season, NPR reported.
As it stands now, Tomlin, Lovie Smith (Houston Texans) and Mike McDaniel (Miami Dolphins) are the lone Black head coaches in the NFL. The league was reeling after Brian Flores, an African American, was fired from the Dolphins in the offseason despite a winning record, and David Culley, who is Black, was fired in the offseason by the Texans after just one season—a season without its star quarterback, DeShaun Watson.
Tomlin hired Flores to be a Steelers assistant on the defensive side, and didn’t care about the fact that Flores has filed a racial discrimination lawsuit against the NFL.
“I haven’t been in any discussions, and no, I don’t have a level of confidence that would leave me to believe that things are going to be better,” Tomlin said on March 28 during the annual league meeting in Palm Beach, Fla. “I’m more of a show-me guy as opposed to a guy that sits around and talks about things.”
When media members pressed Tomlin on precisely what must be addressed, Tomlin responded: “The hiring itself. I think that we’ve pecked around the entire discussion and subject and we’ve done a lot of beneficial things. But we’ve got to land the plane. We’ve got to hire capable candidates.”