Posted by Dan Ewert : 10/01/2002 11:32:00 PM (Archive Link)
It appears that the formidable Johnnie Cochran has decided to take on the NFL. He’s claiming that the league’s hiring practices discriminate against blacks and he’s even come up with a plan to rectify the situation. The plan involves the stick and carrot approach with regards to draft picks. If a team develops a “diverse front office,” that team gets an extra pick. If a team refuses to interview minorities for a head coaching position, they lose a first round pick… a third round pick for lack of consideration for assistant coaching jobs. He’s also stated that if the NFL doesn’t take action, then he’ll sue ‘em. I’m assuming he’ll come up with some catchy phrase like, “If you don’t hire, you’ll feel the fire.”

I can’t stand Johnnie Cochran. In this matter, he’s using a “study” called, “Black Coaches in the National Football League: Superior Performance, Inferior Opportunities.” The report notes that black coaches win 1.1 games more per season than white coaches and reach the playoffs 67% of the time compared to 39% for the pale folks. That sounds like a good point until you find out the statistical aberration… there have been only 5 black head coaches since 1986: Art Shell, Dennis Green, Tony Dungy, Ray Rhodes, and Herman Edwards. This is also brought up to support Cochran’s analysis, but it weakens the previous argument. 5 men hardly compose a large enough sampling on which to base the coaching performance of an entire race. Oddly enough, Cochran is stereotyping… these five black guys did well, therefore all black guys will do well! What I think is really strange is the playoff percentages he drags out. Statistically speaking, most of the NFL head coaches are white. Therefore, white coaches would obviously compose the bulk of those sitting at home during the postseason.

Cochran also whined that black coaches are held to a higher standard, aren’t given a chance to prove themselves and are fired after one year. Let’s examine this, shall we? Art Shell coached the Raiders for five years. He got plenty of time, but was a little inconsistent after going 12-4, winning the AFC West and reaching the AFC championship game in 1990. After finishing 9-7 and 3rd in the AFC West in 1994, Al Davis let him go. Dennis Green got a big nine seasons with the Vikings (you know… that team with the Nordic mascot) and was let go after the 2000 season. He had performed very well in that time but couldn’t last through the playoffs. Nine years is also too long for any head coach in one place and he was having trouble controlling his players. Tony Dungy coached the Bucs for six seasons, was mediocre and was let go after several disappointing playoff loss seasons. Ray Rhodes helmed the Eagles for four years and they had the following records: 10-6, 10-6, 6-9-1, and 3-13. Hardly flattering. He also led the Packers for one season and went 8-8. Herman Edwards led the Jets to a 10-6 finish last year… nice but still third in the AFC East… and he’s off to a miserable 3-1 start this season in which the Jets have scored 13 points in the last three games. So what we see here is that black coaches have gotten plenty of time to prove themselves and are no more prone to being fired than any other head coach in today’s high-pressure NFL.

That leaves the question of whether or not the league’s owners purposely discriminate against blacks when it comes to hiring and interviews. I have trouble believing this. The NFL may have a bunch of old white men as owners, but they’re rich old white men and they like getting richer and they like the ego boost of a winning team. They’re businessmen and that means business comes first. I just don’t buy the idea that they’d refuse to consider a qualified minority coach if they thought the individual would help the team win and the franchise to make money. It’s like they say… people may be white, black, brown, red, or yellow, but the money’s all green.

Simply put, Cochran’s “proof” is nothing but a hype-filled, race-baiting game of smoke and mirrors. Nevertheless, he’s trying to intimidate the league, saying, “We can litigate this. We can bring a lawsuit. I think the NFL is reasonable. They understand that this can end up in the courts, and they’d rather not see that happen. But let’s see if we can have a dialogue. You only litigate after you’ve done everything you can to negotiate.” I imagine this prompted a big yawn from the NFL. The league is too powerful, too wealthy, too popular, and in too good a legal position to be intimidated by the likes of a shyster like Cochran. They are not in a risky legal, moral, or PR position. Johnnie’s taking on a little more than he should this time.