The NFL requires teams to interview two minority candidates from outside their organization for an open head coaching position before hiring a new head coach, even if the team hires a minority, so why is Jerod Mayo’s hiring by the Patriots an exception?
This is “Don’t Got No Sports,” an occasional foray by me into a discussion about sports, which technically IS part of pop culture, but I’ll admit is very different from the stuff that I normally cover here, hence it receiving its own feature. Besides my pop culture and comic book writing, I also manage two sports blogs, one for the Yankees and one for the Knicks. So occasionally I’ll have something I feel like writing about sports.
As noted, the NFL’s Rooney Rule requires two minority candidates from outside an organization to be interviewed in person when there is a head coach opening being filled.
The Patriots recently announced that that are replacing longtime coach Bill Belichick with his assistant coach, Jerod Mayo, without interviewing any other coaches. So what gives?
As it turns out, Mayo qualifies for an exception to the Rule.
If an assistant coach has language in their contract saying that they get promoted when the head coach leaves, then the team can promote them without doing interviews, whether the assistant coach is a minority or not. Mayo had that language in his contract.
So there you go.
