Rooney: Diversity rules help most positions but progress lacking for coaches

Pittsburgh Steelers owner Art Rooney II defended the NFL's diversity rules Thursday while accepting that the enhanced Rooney Rule policies haven't led to enough positive change for head coaches.

"While I acknowledge that we have not seen progress in the ranks of head coaches, we have seen marked improvement in the hiring of women and minorities in other key leadership roles such as coordinator positions, general manager positions, and front office positions both in and out of football operations," Rooney said in a statement, according to ESPN's Brooke Pryor.

"I believe this progress has been made as a result of the implementation of many of the enhanced policies that were recently adopted."

The NFL's hiring practices are under the microscope after former head coach Brian Flores filed a class-action lawsuit against the league, the Miami Dolphins, the New York Giants, and Denver Broncos for alleged racial discrimination.

The league updated the Rooney Rule, named after former Steelers owner Dan Rooney, in October. It now requires teams to interview at least two external minority candidates for vacant head coach, general manager, or coordinator positions.

In his lawsuit, Flores accused the Broncos and Giants of only interviewing him to fulfill the NFL's diversity requirements and that neither considered him a serious candidate.

Steelers coach Mike Tomlin is currently the only Black head coach in the NFL after Flores and David Culley were fired by the Dolphins and Houston Texans, respectively, at the end of the season.

Washington Commanders coach Ron Rivera and New York Jets coach Robert Saleh are the only other minority head coaches.

Of the nine head coach vacancies this hiring cycle, no minority coach has been hired, with four positions yet to be filled.