Ryan Clark, a one-time Super Bowl champion and current ESPN NFL analyst, ripped the New England Patriots for how they complied with the Rooney Rule during their head-coaching search.
The NFL’s Rooney Rule, which was created by the NFL’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Committee in 2003, requires each team with a head-coaching vacancy to interview at least two or more diverse candidates for the job. The rule expanded in 2022 to include interviews for women as part of the “minority candidate definition.”
Mike Vrabel of the Tennessee Titans on the field before the game against the Seattle Seahawks at Nissan Stadium on December 24, 2023, in Nashville, Tennessee. (Wesley Hitt/Getty Images)
The Patriots hired Mike Vrabel as their next coach about a week after firing Jerod Mayo. The team interviewed Pep Hamilton and Byron Leftwich to comply with the Rooney Rule – all done before the playoffs were over.
“I think this kind of puts a light on the Rooney Rule, which, to me, the New England Patriots made a mockery of,” Clark said Thursday on “Inside the NFL.” “To interview Pep Hamilton and Byron Leftwich, two coaches who aren’t even in football right now, just to fulfill a quota.
“The Rooney Rule was put in place so some of these minority coaches could get opportunities to get in front of some of the executives and some of these owners, that truly were looking to give the job to the best person. Now, I want to make it clear – I believe we have moved to a point where organizations will hire the best person they feel for the job. But let’s not make coaches, who have worked their entire lives for this opportunity, be the token interview.
Nov. 4, 2024; Kansas City, Missouri: Broadcaster Ryan Clark prior to a game between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Kansas City Chiefs at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. (Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images)
“I think a better solution is for teams who want to skip the Rooney Rule, like the New England Patriots probably would have, because they wanted Mike Vrabel, allow them to hire someone on the lower level that reports directly to the head coach, reports to directly to the offensive coordinator, so they could get some of that tutelage that allows their resumes and their careers to build.
“Let’s stop with the bull-crap interviews just to say we did what the Rooney Rule was supposed to do. When it was implemented initially, I believe it worked. It has now run its course and become something that is a joke to NFL and NFL coaches, and more importantly, to the people it was supposed to help.”
Vrabel has a long history with the Patriots, having won three Super Bowl titles with the team during his playing career.
New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel smiles while posing with team owner Robert Kraft, right, during an availability on Monday, Jan. 13, 2025, in Foxborough, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
He started his coaching career with the Tennessee Titans in 2018. He was 54-45 with the Titans and led them to three playoff appearances, including an AFC Championship appearance.
