John Wooten - Chairman
Statement on the 2005 NFL Season
January 5th, 2006
The 2005 season brought us much to celebrate. The Pro Football Hall of Fame inducted our namesake, the late Fritz Pollard, one of the pillars of pro football in the NFL's early years before the fateful decision to oust black players and coaches from the game. In 2005, the cultural change the FPA seeks in the NFL's hiring practices continued to take hold, marked by the record number of minorities serving as front office executives, head coaches, assistant coaches.
While FPA's efforts in creating a level playing field opened holes, it is always up to our members to run to daylight and create success for their clubs. And indeed they did in the 2005 regular season. Here I will just mention few examples, starting with the front office.
James "Shack" Harris, Vice President of Football Operations, gathered the talent and put together the ingredients to help shape the 12-4 Jacksonville Jaguars. Their record may be the top ever for a wild card team. Relying on years of experience, Shack skillfully put together a talented team. No one will forget how he adroitly bested other teams by drafting the coveted Byron Leftwich in the 2003 draft. He has put together a team blending veteran leadership with young talent. Shack has won over the respect of the entire Jacksonville franchise and his peers throughout the League.
Shack's success this season is consistent with the great work of the handful of other minorities who obtained the opportunity to run the football operations for their clubs. Take the 2003 draft for example. Arizona Vice President of Football Operations Rod Graves drafted Anquan Boldin in the second round. Boldin became the 2003 Offensive Rookie of the Year. Baltimore General Manager Ozzie Newsome drafted Terrell Suggs in the mid first round. Suggs became the 2003 Defensive Rookie of the Year. Minority executives skillfully drafted both of the Rookies of the Year that year. The success of Shack, Rod, and Ozzie will help pave the way for NFL owners to see the wisdom of seriously considering viable African American candidates each time there is a search to fill a front office opening. Throughout the NFL there are minority executives such as Jerry Reese (Giants), Rick Smith (Broncos), Lawrence McCutcheon (Rams), Doug Williams (Buccaneers), Jimmy Raye (Chargers), Will Lewis (Seahawks) who are included in personnel decisions in building their clubs.
As for coaching, three of the eight 2005 division winners, are headed by African American head coaches, notably Tony Dungy whose Colts are AFC South Champions with a League high 14-2 record, Marvin Lewis, whose 11-5 Bengals are the AFC North Champions, and Lovie Smith, whose 11-5 Bears are the NFC North Champions. According to Sports Illustrated's Peter King, top sportswriters view Dungy, Smith and Lewis as the top three candidates for NFL Coach of the Year. We think this is an outstanding accomplishment. Dungy lead his team to a dominating 13-0 start, Lewis took a team that was in the doldrums for more than decade and brought them their first division crown since 1990 and Smith put together a ferocious defense and won the division with a back up fourth round rookie QB. African American coaches lead 19% of the NFL teams, but make up 38% of the division leaders, doubling the ratio of their peers. 50% of the NFL's black coaches lead their teams to playoff berths (3 of 6) compared to 38 % of their peers (9 of 26). They have also obtained 50% of the coveted bye weeks (2 of 4) awarded to the top two-playoff seeds in each conference. Dungy, Lewis and Smith have guided their teams over major obstacles and have positioned their teams to make a serious run on the Super Bowl. They face stiff competition in the playoffs and extraordinary challenges; however, if they succeed in winning their conference championship they will make not only football, but also United States history.
This successful track record is consistent with the seminal 2002 report, Black Coaches in the NFL: Superior Performance, Inferior Opportunities coauthored by the late legendary trial attorney Johnnie L. Cochran, Jr. and noted civil rights attorney Cyrus Mehri. Their report, which has been the catalyst for change and progress in the NFL, found that over a 15 year period (1986-2001) that black head coaches averaged 1.1 more wins per season than white head coaches, led their teams to the playoffs 67% of the time verses 39% of the time for white head coaches, and in their first seasons improved club records by 2.7 more wins than their white counterparts.
Due to the exceptionally positive impact minority front office executives and head coaches have had on their teams, coupled with the League's commitment to interview minority candidates for top vacancies under the Leadership of Commissioner Paul Tagliabue, and the diversity program led by Dan Rooney, the prospects are bright that 2006 will usher in even more opportunities for minorities. Already the 8 head coach openings in 2006 are more than in any year since 2000, when there were 9 openings and not one went to an African American. Few if any minority candidates were even interviewed for head coach or front office openings that year. No one at this point can predict how many minorities will be selected for top positions during this hiring cycle, but we can be assured that strong, viable minority candidates will compete for each and every head coach vacancy and during front office searches. Once able to show their wares, we are confident that fair competition will lead to opportunities, opportunities will lead to success and success will in turn lead to more opportunities. This is the way of the NFL in 2005 and 2006 and what is a great future.