ATLANTA A look of determination came over Troy Vincent's face as he strode from the back of the conference room at Morehouse College up to the front projector on Tuesday afternoon.A long morning se sion of presentations at the 's QB Coaching Summit was about to break for lunch, punctuated by detailed and moving discu sions led by former NFL head coach Jim Caldwell, African-American coaching pioneer Jimmy Raye, college coach Shaun King, former NFL coordinator Pep Hamilton, Maryland head coach Mike Locksley and Clemson coordinator Tony Elliott.Vincent, the NFL's head of football operations and one of the hosts of the
Bryce Hall Jersey event, like others was getting overcome with emotion watching these men tell their stories and share their wisdom, and, at times, narrate their struggle as a black coach in football. This two-day seminar was put in place to shed light on the plight of minority coaches on the offensive side of the ball and to help identify and cultivate a pipeline of diverse coaches with a background coaching quarterbacks to help addre s the dearth of those men as head coaches and offensive coordinators in the NFL right now.For years now, the numbers have been trending in the opposite direction, and Vincent's frustration with this has become increasingly evident to many at the league office and around the game at all levels. Only four men of color coach the 32 Mike Tomlin ( ), Anthony Lynn ( ), Brian Flores ( ) and Ron Rivera ( ) and only one African American truly has authority over an NFL team's personnel as a general manager (Chris Grier of the Dolphins), as Doug Williams has the GM title but not final say on the roster or transactions in Washington (he reports to team president Bruce Allen). At a time when owners seem infatuated with hiring the next hot young quarterback guru/offensive play caller, only two men of color (Eric Bieniemy, , and Byron Leftwich, ) hold offensive coordinator titles in the league. By lunch break on the second day of this event, with it beyond apparent there was no shortage of qualified and capable men of color who could be holding these positions among the men merely a sembled in this room, Vincent made what would be his final remarks at the seminar."God damn it, we know this game," he said as he paced the front of the room, preaching to men who had long been already converted. "We can coach it and we can teach it All we're asking for is a fair proce s."For four hours that morning, an a sortment of highly-respected and proven African American coaches had held court to a sist several dozen college and pro coaches with varying experience, sharing intimate details of how
Jermaine Johnson II Jersey to prepare for job interviews, explaining what precisely would be expected of them as a position coach or coordinator or head coach at the NFL level, sharing, literally, their playbooks and outlining concepts and play design, eager to answer any and every question po sible. The night before, those younger coaches were able to network and socialize with general managers, former general managers and head coaches before and after panel discu sions featuring former coach Marvin Lewis, former GM Jerry Reese, longtime GM Ozzie Newsome, and current GM Rick Spielman, who, along with former Ohio State coach Urban Meyer, were the lone white participants. Vincent, an outward advocate for more diversity in the coaching and management ranks well before this event, is caught in the unenviable position as often being the man at the league office to figure out what went wrong when teams, time and time again, chose not to hire African American men they interviewed or treat the Rooney Rule at times as a box that merely needs to be checked. He hears it from both sides why some candidates believe the proce s was unfair, how little time they got with an owner and why some teams felt like a particular minority candidate was not ready for the job. That cauldron started to boil within, it seemed, as he continued his addre s."This man has two Super Bowls rings," he said of Reese, "and I can't get him an interview." Vincent noted the "systemic" problems that seemed afoot. "We have to fight this at its core," he went on.Vincent alluded to Caldwell,
Greg Van Roten Jersey who has been knighted as an offensive mind by no le s than and managed to turn the lowly into a winning team and has a winning record as a head coach. "He's not even invited to the party," Vincent said, pointing to the tepid-at-best interest in Caldwell while a group
Kevin Mawae Jersey of unproven young, white offensive coaches were all the rage in the last hiring cycle. "We can sell a non-winning white coach, but we struggle to sell a winning black coach." He implored the network of diverse coaches in the room, once more, to look out for each other. "We have to be the search firm," he said, as teams who insist on using these firms have been le s than creative with their Rooney Rule job selections. Vincent, a former star defensive back, tried to make sense of a proce s whereby, so often, an African American candidate goes from the "hot guy" asked to interview for several head jobs one year, only to be cast aside entirely the following year if his team slumps."Very seldom does that happen to our counterparts," Vincent said. "We have to fix that."He pleaded with the men in the room to continue accepting interview requests even if the proce s seemed rigged to one particular outcome with it clear the team had a favorite for the opening. "We've got to take the interview and put out best foot forward," he said. He explained how the league office was working to ensure teams interview more than one "Rooney Rule" candidate and railed against the instances where an African American interviewee isn't given an opportunity to truly talk football or where the team's interest might not seem genuine. "There's a game inside the game that we have to get better at," Vincent
Elijah Moore Jersey said.Sharing experiences ... and speaking franklyThat in part was the genesis of the NFL's more comprehensive involvement with this event. It was started a year ago by Williams and his friend James "Shack" Harris, two former Grambling quarterbacks and lifelong friends who share the unique bond of being among the first black starting quarterbacks in the NFL and among the league's first black personnel men, as well, after their playing careers. They wanted to help identity and cultivate a score of diverse coaches who were already coaching quarterbacks at some level, or who aimed to do so, to try to addre s the declining numbers in the NFL ranks.Vincent and commi sioner Roger Goodell made it clear to those trailblazers that they shared that vision and wanted to create an annual event that built upon their efforts, joining the Black Hall of Fame as co-hosts. "Troy and the commi sioner recognized that this was important," Williams said. "That's why we're here."Williams and Harris went through the ugly statistics on diversity in coaching at the event's kickoff (on top of those I already noted, there are only four
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