Rocky’s Report: Can the NFL's Rooney Rule be Circumvented through Successor Plans?

Soon after the NFL’s regular season ended this past January, Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots announced they would be parting ways.  This decision was not necessarily a surprise to most – although Belichick and the Patriots enjoyed tremendous success over the past two plus decades, including 6 super bowl titles, the past few seasons have been less than stellar.

A day after Belichick was ousted from the position, the Patriots announced Belichick’s successor, Jerod Mayo.  Mayo is a former linebacker for the Patriots and has been the team’s linebacker’s coach for the past five seasons.  Mayo also earned numerous awards as a player – he’s a former all pro, pro bowl, and super bowl winning player with five years coaching experience under Belichick.  However, Mayo’s path to leading the organization made me think of the potential Rooney Rule implications and how this may play out for future open positions in the league.

What’s unique about the Mayo hiring is that the Patriots did not interview any other candidates for the head coaching job.  It is common for an NFL organization to interview several candidates before hiring their head coach.  According to a Sportico article written by Michael McCann, Mayo’s recent contract with the Patriots included a succession plan.  That is, the Patriot’s established Jerod Mayo as the successor to Bill Belichick through a previous contract so the Patriots could go and promote Mayo without having to fulfill the interview requirements of the Rooney Rule.  This unique situation had me questioning what exactly the Rooney Rule is and whether it can be circumvented through similar succession plans in the future.

What is the Rooney Rule?

Before sitting down to write this Report, I had a vague understanding of the Rooney Rule – in the NFL, teams are required to interview a certain number of minority coaches for open positions.  According to the NFL’s website, the Rooney Rule was established in 2003 and aims to increase the number of diverse candidates hired into head coach, general manager, and executive positions.  The Rooney Rule has evolved since its inception in 2003, but the overall goal remains the same – NFL teams are required to interview a certain number of diverse candidates for open coaching, executive, and general manager positions.

With that said, that begs the question as to how a succession plan like that used in Mayo’s case runs up against the Rooney Rule’s requirements.

Does a Succession Plan Circumvent the Rooney Rule?

My initial thought was that teams could potentially use similar succession plans to circumvent the requirements of the Rooney Rule, whereas they can select a coach (or executive) without being required to interview minority candidates. The Rooney Rule does include an exception wherein a team can bypass the requirements of the Rooney Rule when a succession plan is in place prior to the season in which the vacancy occurs, such as in the Patriots’ case with Jerod Mayo. 

But if teams begin to favor succession plans in favor of the traditional interview process, could that impact the Rooney Rule’s objective of giving diverse candidates greater access to top roles in the NFL?  I would think so.  However, if teams rejected the interview process altogether, they would be at a disadvantage because they could potentially miss out on superior coaching and executive talent outside of their organization.