Seattle Seahawks: Pete Carroll Sounds Off
This week, Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll sounded off on NFL owners and their hiring practices. Or their flawed hiring process.
On Tuesday, Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll sounded off on the NFL and its hiring practices. Or rather, their deeply flawed hiring process. He said that the hiring of minority candidates wouldn’t change until the NFL Owners accept head coaching candidates out there that are different from “ourselves.”
Coach Pete, more or less, stated that there are candidates of color that are just as qualified, if not more than some of the coaches and executives currently holding jobs. However, in the NFL, white candidates get first, second, and third opportunities while minority candidates continually get passed over and overlooked.
The Problem
The truth about the NFL is that they face big-time racial issues within its current structure. A majority of the NFL owners are white (95.3 percent, to be exact). Going back to Carroll’s comments, they need to carefully examine candidates who are different from themselves.
Of the league’s 32 teams, there are only six minority head coaches or about 18.75 percent. For a league that is 75 percent non-white, that’s a problem. Especially for an organization that greatly promotes their achievement of equality and a real fight for change, 18.75 percent seems awfully low.
Meanwhile, former Miami Dolphins coach Brian Flores is currently suing the NFL over what he called its “sham hiring practices.” Two former head coaches, Steve Wilks and Ray Horton joined that suit on Friday.
Bringing Attention to the Issue
For Pete Carroll to come out and say what he said, I applaud him. He is a head coach who is well thought of and respected within the NFL. No one compelled him to say it and, at the same time, possibly risk his NFL coaching career (his current contract ends in 2025); again, I applaud him. This topic is not something the NFL wants to call attention to. Carroll put a spotlight on this topic and himself.
Subsequently, the NFL has to act on Carroll’s comments. An examination of its hiring practices is long overdue. From there, make the necessary and appropriate changes so that all candidates, regardless of race, are given an equal and fair shot at a high-level position. It’s time the NFL stopped using nice words and actually did what they said they would do.
From last night, since some missed it: https://t.co/mzpWS9VMCB
— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) April 5, 2022
What do you think about Seattle Seahawks Head Coach Pete Carroll’s comments about the NFL and its hiring practices? Let us know in the comments section below.