The Oakland Raiders got their man in new head coach Jon Gruden, but questions persist about how closely they followed the Rooney Rule. Now the NFL is officially “looking into” any potential violations of the rule, according to Adam Schefter.
NFL investigating Raiders for potential Rooney Rule violation in hiring of Jon Gruden
The league is looking into whether the Raiders followed the rule in their coaching search.
Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
The Raiders announced the hiring of Gruden on Jan. 6, shortly after he called his final game for ESPN. Rumors of Gruden joining the team circulated not long after the team fired Jack Del Rio a week earlier.
General manager Reggie McKenzie said that he interviewed two candidates to satisfy the rule — tight ends coach Bobby Johnson and USC offensive coordinator Tee Martin. However, Gruden’s hiring was all but assured, raising doubts that the candidates in question ever had a fair shot at landing the job. The Fritz Pollard Alliance asked the NFL to investigate the matter after Gruden was introduced as the new coach.
Created in 2003 and named after late Pittsburgh Steelers owner Dan Rooney, the Rooney Rule seeks to create more diversity in the NFL coaching ranks by requiring teams to interview minority candidates. There have been cases in the past where teams skirted the rule by interviewing people before settling on the coach they wanted all along, which can lead to fewer minorities getting a serious chance to get a head coaching job. Currently, only six of 32 NFL head coaches are African-American, and there is just one Latino head coach.
It’s unknown what form of punishment the Raiders will face if found in violation of the rule. In 2003, the league fined Detroit Lions general manager Matt Millen $200,000 for ignoring the rule prior to hiring Steve Mariucci.
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