Super Bowl champion says NFL’s Rooney rule ‘joke’ for teams, criticizes Patriots’ compliance
Ryan Clark, one-time Super Bowl champion and current ESPN NFL analyst, ripped New England Patriots how they followed the Rooney rule during the search for a head coach.
The NFL’s Rooney Rule, created by the NFL’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Committee in 2003, requires each team with a head coaching vacancy to interview at least two or more different candidates for the job. The rule was expanded in 2022 to include interviews for women as part of the “minority candidate definition.”
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Tennessee Titans’ Mike Vrabel on the field before the game against the Seattle Seahawks at Nissan Stadium on December 24, 2023 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Wesley Hitt/Getty Images)
Patriots hired Mike Vrabel as their next coach about a week after firing Jerod May. The team spoke to Pep Hamilton and Byron Leftwich to fulfill the Rooney rule – all done before the end of the playoffs.
“I think this kind of shines a light on the Rooney rule, which I think the New England Patriots made a mockery of,” Clark said Thursday on “Inside the NFL.” “Interviewing Pep Hamilton and Byron Leftwich, two coaches who are not even in football right now, just to fill the quota.
“The Rooney Rule was put in place so that some of these minority coaches could get an opportunity to get in front of some of the executives and some of these owners, who really wanted to give the job to the best person. Now, I want to be clear — I believe we’ve reached a point where organizations hire the best person they feel for the job, but don’t let the coaches, who have worked their whole lives for this opportunity, be the symbol of the interview.
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November 4, 2024; Kansas City, Missouri: TV anchor Ryan Clark before the game between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Kansas City Chiefs at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. (Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images)
“I think a better solution for teams that want to skip the Rooney Rule, like the New England Patriots probably would have because they wanted Mike Vrabel, is to let them hire someone at a lower level who reports directly to the head coach, reports directly to the offensive coordinator, how could get something out of that tutoring that allows them to build their CV and career.
“Let’s stop doing silly interviews just to say that we did what the Rooney Rule was supposed to do. When it was initially implemented, I believe it worked. Now it’s run its course and become something that’s a joke to the NFL and NFL coaches, and it’s more importantly, the people he was supposed to help.”
Vrabel has a long history with the Patriots, winning three Super Bowl titles with the team during his playing career.
New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel smiles as he poses with team owner Robert Kraft, right, during availability Monday, Jan. 13, 2025, in Foxborough, Massachusetts. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
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He started his coaching career in Tennessee Titans in 2018. He went 54-45 with the Titans and led them to three playoff appearances, including an appearance in the AFC Championship Game.
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