Patriots inside linebackers coach Jerod Mayo, whose fairly short time as an NFL assistant coach has resulted in three interviews for head-coaching jobs, could eventually get one. In a Wednesday appearance on PFT Live, Mayo addressed the lawsuit brought by former Dolphins coach Brian Flores regarding racial biases in hiring practices.
“Honestly, I’m still gathering the facts on that whole story,” said Mayo, who, like Flores, is Black. “What I will say is I definitely see the frustration as far as a lack of minority head coaches in the NFL. When you look at a league where over 70 percent of the players are Black and you only have really at the time one Black head coach, I mean there’s something to be said about that. It’s not about, ‘Do you have people who are qualified to really lead a team?’ When I really look at the funnel, I look at the top of the funnel and the bottom of the funnel. The bottom of the funnel, I think they’ve done a great job as far as the minority hiring, having these guys come in.”
The problem, as many believe it to be, originates with the folks who run the show.
“When you go to the top of the funnel as far as ownership is concerned, there are no Black owners,” Mayo said. “There are no Black owners in the league. It is what it is. Hopefully one day we won’t have to say this, but that’s what it is. What I will say the progress has been made is, especially this year, was just in the G.M. cycle. When you look at [Vikings G.M.] Kwesi [Adofo-Mensah], you look at [bears G.M. Ryan Poles], you look at all these guys -- especially the pipeline, the minority or the Black G.M. pipeline or up and coming pipeline, and the next cycle. To me, that will start to trickle down into the head coaching and coordinator cycle as well.”
So how can the league make it better, nearly 20 years after the passage of the Rooney Rule?
“The Rooney Rule, great idea, poor implementation,” Mayo said. “At the same time, I think there’s definitely things to be hopeful for and at the same time, I can see the frustration, I feel the frustration from my brothers. From my perspective, my personal perspective, remember I’m only going into my fourth year of coaching. To have three head-coaching interviews in three years really of coaching, I can’t really complain. Now if you look at it from another perspective which I always think is important to look at it from different perspectives, if you look at it from Leslie Frazier’s perspective, look at it from [Eric] Bieniemy’s perspective, even look at it from [Brian Flores’s] perspective, there is true, true frustration there and that is warranted, right? Warranted frustration because these guys are proven leaders and there have been people with less success, not as much -- they haven’t accomplished as much on the field, and they’re just not getting these opportunities.”
Mayo summed up his thoughts with a very simple but powerful message.
“At the end of the day, don’t hire me because I’m Black,” Mayo said. “Hire me because I’m competent. Hire me because I can lead a group of men and women after a common goal, a common vision, a shared vision. Hire me because I’m the best person for the job.”
He’s right. The problem is that, all too frequently, the person regarded as the best for the job has the same skin color as the person who hires him.