Brian Flores' lawsuit against the NFL has reignited debate about the history of the NFL's hiring, firing, and retention of black head coaches. As a black football coach myself (and former journalist), I decided to do some digging to see if the alleged discrepancies in the Flores lawsuit can be supported with any real data. Below is a summary of what I found.
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1. About 70% of NFL players are black (≈ 1,200 players)
According to 2020 census data, blacks make up 12.4% of the U.S. population (≈ 41 million people)
2. An estimated 35% of NFL assistant coaches are black (≈ 280 coaches)
The average NFL staff has 20-25 total assistant coaches including coordinators, position coaches, and analysts.
As of 2021 the NFL had 792 total assistant coaches.
3. As of 2021, 29% of NFL coordinators were black (18 of 63).
4. From 2012-21, 40% of NFL coordinators hired were black (51 of 128).
5. From 2012-21, 51 black coordinators have been hired; 12 offensive, 39 defensive.
6. From 2012-21, only 17% (11 of 62) head coaching hires were black.
7. The NFL has had 24 black head coaches in league history.
8. The NFL currently has two black head coaches (Lovie Smith & Mike Tomlin) and one bi-racial coach (Mike McDonald).
9. The Los Angeles Raiders hired Art Shell as the first black NFL coach of the modern era in 1989.
By comparison, Frank Robinson became MLB's first black manager in 1975, and Bill Russell became the NBA's first black head coach in 1966.
10. The Baltimore Ravens hired Ozzie Newsome as the league’s first black general manager in 2002.
By comparison, the Atlanta Braves named Bill Lucas as MLB's first black GM 1976, and the Milwaukee Bucks appointed Wayne Embry as the NBA's first black GM in 1972.
11. The NFL currently has seven black general managers. This includes Atlanta Falcons GM Terry Fontenot. That number (22%) is the highest in league history.
12. No NFL team in league history has had a black majority owner. Every other major North American Sport (including the NHL) has had at least one black majority owner.
13. As of 2021, nine of 32 head coaches at that time are either the son or father of a current or former NFL coach (including coordinators and position coaches).
14. As of 2021, 63 total NFL coaches are related through blood or marriage to another NFL coach. Of those 63 coaches, 53 are white.
15. From the NFL's 2021 Diversity & Inclusion Report:
Between the beginning of the 2012 NFL regular season (September 5, 2012) and Super Bowl LV (February 7, 2021), 104 White individuals have received at least a second opportunity to work as an offensive coordinator or defensive coordinator of an NFL team. Only 24 men of color have received a similar “second or greater” opportunity during the same time period; notably, 20 of these 24 “second or greater chances” have been for men of color hired as defensive coordinators with only four men of color receiving a “second or greater chance” to serve as an NFL offensive coordinator.
16. Since 1989 -- when Art Shell broke the league’s coaching color barrier – the NFL has fluctuated between 54 and 72 percent black players. White coaches have accounted for 84 percent of the new hires, while Black coaches make up less than 12 percent of the new hires.
17. Nineteen NFL teams have had full-time black head coaches. The thirteen teams that have not include the Bills, Commanders, Cowboys, Falcons, Giants, Jaguars, Panthers, Patriots, Rams, Ravens, Seahawks.
18. Twenty-five percent (6 of 24) black coaches have been fired after a winning tenure with their franchise (Art Shell, Dennis Green, Tony Dungy, Lovie Smith, Jim Caldwell [twice], and Brian Flores).
19. Black coaches wait longer on average for their first head coaching jobs. Please see the graphic below.
20. There has been no statistical gap in the performance of black and white coaches. This graphic contains summarized data from 1989-2021.
A Few Additional Case Studies:
Steve Wilks - The Arizona Cardinals fired Wilks after a 3-13 record in 2018. His lone season included a rookie starting quarterback playing behind an offensive line that they started FIVE different tackles, SIX different guards, and allowed the most sacks in the league. Cliff Kingsbury replaced Wilks after his tenure at Texas Tech ended with just two winning seasons in six years and an overall record of 35-40. Wilks was replaced with a college coach with a losing record and no NFL head coaching experience.
Jim Caldwell, Part I - Caldwell's resume with the Colts: In 2009 he went 14-2 and lost the Super Bowl. In year two he went 10-6 and lost in the Wildcard round, and in year three he went 2-14 after Peyton Manning missed the entire season with neck surgery. The Colts fired Caldwell after three seasons with an overall regular season record of 26-22, two playoff appearances and an AFC Championship.
Jim Caldwell, Part II - Caldwell's received a second head coaching opportunity in Detroit where he went 36-28 in the regular season with three winning seasons and two playoff appearances in four years. The Lions dismissed him after going 9-7 and missing the playoffs in 2017.
Lovie Smith - The Chicago Bears fired Smith after a 10-6 2012 season in which they missed the playoffs. In nine years he had five winning seasons, made two NFC championship game and a Super Bowl. The Bears when 29-19 in three seasons prior to his dismissal. He finished with a overall record of 81-63.
Tony Dungy - Dungy resurrected the Buccaneers franchise with four winning seasons in six years -- the team's first winning seasons in 17 years. After a second-straight Wildcard loss in the 2001, the Buccaneers fired Dungy with an overall regular season record of 54-42. The 2001 season marked his third consecutive winning season and third straight playoff appearance, including an NFC Championship game appearance. Dungy was the first coach in franchise history with a winning record.
Dennis Green - The Minnesota Vikings bought out Green’s contract 15 games into his first losing season in 2001. He had eight winning seasons in 10 years, eight playoff appearances, and only ONE losing season. He left Minnesota with a career record of 97-62.
Art Shell - Shell's first run with the L.A. Raiders ended in 1994 after four winning seasons in six years, three playoff appearances, and winning records in each of his last two years.
2021 Offseason – The 2021 Super Bowl between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers included three black coordinators (Todd Bowles & Byron Leftwich for Tampa Bay and Eric Bieniemy for Kansas City). NONE of them were awarded head coaching jobs that offseason. This has only happened twice in the last 12 years, the last time in 2016. While neither team's coordinators received a job following the 2015 season, Carolina DC Sean McDermott received a head coaching job after the following season with the Buffalo Bills. Other coordinators hired during that same time frame:
This year Rams OC Kevin O’Connell was named head coach of the Vikings.
Robert Saleh joined the New York Jets after leading the 49ers defense in 2019.
Brian Flores (linebackers) and Joe Judge (special teams coordinator) received head coaching jobs after 2018 Super Bowl win for the New England Patriots.
Frank Reich got the Colts job after the Philadelphia Eagles 2017 Super Bowl victory over the Patriots. Patriots defensive coordinator Matt Patricia replaced Jim Caldwell with the Lions.
Kyle Shanahan took over the San Francisco 49ers after leading a record-setting offense for the Atlanta Falcons in 2016.
Conclusions
Black coaches are generally well represented as assistant coaches.
As you move up the tiers of power, there is significantly less representation. This is not the case currently as there has been a recent surge in black GM hires, but representation has been severely lacking in the 30+ years since Art Shell broke the coaching color barrier, and since Ozzie Smith broke the GM color barrier in 2002.
Black coaches wait longer on average for their first job.
There is no gap in the performance of black and white head coaches over the last 33 years.
Black coaches are more likely to be fired despite a winning record.
Black coaches are less likely to get a second head coaching opportunity.
What do YOU make of the data?
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