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Random NFL comments/thoughts


RedRamage

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16 minutes ago, buddha said:

harbaugh's situation kind of undermines flores' argument too.  harbaugh has the best resume of any coach on the market.  he's won at every level.  he's been to a super bowl.  

yet he has a reputation as being hard to work with and now he cant get hired.  he's being passed over for younger coaches who are all in on "analytics."

and after the success of those coaches: mcvay, taylor, staley, why wouldnt a team want to pluck someone from that tree?  its been much more successful than the "patriot way" coaches.

and hue jackson coming out of the woodwork isnt helping him any...

If Harbaugh were black, Twitter would be going nuts about how he doesn't have a job in the NFL. 

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50 minutes ago, RedRamage said:

While I mostly agree, I think it's also a problem to elude that every time a white coach gets hired it's because of racism.

There's a clear issue with the Rooney rule.  In theory it's a good idea, in practice I suspect that many minority coaches are really often wondering if team is only interviewing them to check the box.  The spirit of the rule is to this gives minorities a chance to change minds... to get their foot in the door and convince teams that they are the guy.

But in practice I'm certain that there are plenty of situations where teams are going through the motions but no matter how impressive the interview is, they'll never get the job.  Look no further than Quinn hiring Patricia.  There is no way anyone was going to interview so exceptionally well that Quinn didn't hire Patricia.

One could argue that the mere chance to interview is worth something (practice, get your name in the media as a potential HC, maybe impress someone who'll mention it to someone else who's hiring...) but I don't know if that would out weight the negatives of feeling like you're just being used.

It's the double edge sword of something like the Rooney Rule.  Prior to the rule if a minority was interviewed for a job it's very likely that that candidate is being seriously considered.  Now it seems like any time a minority who is interviewed people wonder: "Is he really a candidate? Is he really qualified and in the running or are they just checking the box?"

I think there is a difference between eluding that any white coach being hired is an example of racism, and eluding that any white coach being hired is a potential exacerbation of this problem that exists.

I think the issue with the Rooney Rule is that it is all about image rather than practice. People (meaning the national media) pay attention to the GM and Head Coach searches. There are headlines for every interview, and so the Rooney Rule makes it look better that these clubs are interviewing minorities, even if they don't ultimately hire them. There are no headlines for the lower-level positions that actually feed into the positions who are ultimately hired for those positions.

If Ben Johnson is hired as OC, it will make a few local headlines and quickly be out of the limelight. Further down, if the Lions are looking to hire two entry-level quality control analysts and interview five white dudes in their 20s, no one bats an eye. There is no rule being violated and outwardly no one even really knows it's happening. Ten years from now though, when the two white dudes who were hired have made their way up the organizational ladder (either with the Lions or elsewhere) and are being considered for head coaching positions across the NFL, they are likely the more qualified candidates, more likely to be hired, than their minority counterparts who were not even interviewed for that quality control position today. This is practically what happened with the Washington Commies having Shanahan, McVay, and LaFluer all on their staff.

I would also argue that those lower-level positions are the more likely positions to have an interview mean something, because by the time you're being considered for a position akin to a CEO, you have a decade of experience to judge from beyond any one or two-day interview.

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3 minutes ago, Motown Bombers said:

I thought the Rooney rule was expanded to include coordinators? The Lions had a black OC, black DC, black assistant coach, black WR coach, black DB coach, black LB coach, and that's just off the top of my head. Along with the black GM and assistant GM the Lions seem to be doing well in this regard. 

and yet they are in the lawsuit because they fired jim caldwell and teryl austin didnt think he had a chance at the head coaching job.

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13 minutes ago, MichiganCardinal said:

I think there is a difference between eluding that any white coach being hired is an example of racism, and eluding that any white coach being hired is a potential exacerbation of this problem that exists.

I take issue with that though because I think this says people are looking at the problem wrong.

The question shouldn't be: "Why aren't there more Black Head Coaches?"  The question should be "Are minorities getting a fair shot at being hired?"  And I totally get that the first question is a much better sound bite and far easier to provide "evidence" to support it and that the media is gonna go for the low hanging fruit... I get that.

But in a situation where there are only 32 jobs... that sample size is so small that minor fluctuations can easily alter things.  I'm sure that you agree that it's entirely possible that a team could go out and interview 10 people and pick the best candidate and the best candidate for them happens to be white but that race played no part in the decision, right?  But by merely saying: "Wow... look at that... yet another white guy gets hired..." while rolling your eyes implies that the team was motivated by racism.

Could there have been racism? Sure... could there not have been racism? Yes.  But every team now that hires a white guy will have this cloud over them that they were racist.

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8 minutes ago, buddha said:

and yet they are in the lawsuit because they fired jim caldwell and teryl austin didnt think he had a chance at the head coaching job.

I don't go through every team to see their racial makeup, but it seems the Lions do pretty well but they hired a white meathead as coach so burn them at the stake. 

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Totally unrelated to the current topic but I saw a video on yt that showed Brady's first and last ever pass in the NFL. I didn't realize his first ever pass was against us in the Silverdome in a game the Pats were losing 34-9. 

Of all games to make your first NFL appearance in it has to be in a rare game where the Lions are actually the ones blowing the other team out? Idk I think there must be some connection between that and the career he ended up having. 

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4 minutes ago, RandyMarsh said:

Totally unrelated to the current topic but I saw a video on yt that showed Brady's first and last ever pass in the NFL. I didn't realize his first ever pass was against us in the Silverdome in a game the Pats were losing 34-9. 

Of all games to make your first NFL appearance in it has to be in a rare game where the Lions are actually the ones blowing the other team out? Idk I think there must be some connection between that and the career he ended up having. 

I was at that game. I even said we are seeing one of the great young QBs in the NFL. Unfortunately, Charlie Batch only lasted one more season with the Lions. 

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6 minutes ago, Motown Bombers said:

I was at that game. I even said we are seeing one of the great young QBs in the NFL. Unfortunately, Charlie Batch only lasted one more season with the Lions. 

Lol I remember Batch rookie year getting off to that great start meanwhile Peyton Manning was struggling a bunch of us in school were like "I bet the Colts are regretting passing on Batch right about now." 

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