Skip Bayless Says NFL Owners Aren’t Comfortable With Black Head Coaches

As with every NFL off-season there will be a rotating cast of Head Coaches throughout the league. The next great leader will be sought by franchises that are struggling.

The topic of minority employment has again been discussed in an apparent annual tradition. This has been a subject of much debate for years. The NFL isn’t sure which side they’re on and how they want to be seen. Half the time, they are the grumpy, ‘old boys network.’ They preach about bringing people together, and sing. Kumbaya.

Undisputed hosts Skip Bayless and Shannon Sharpe, a sports talk show that discusses the topic. Recent events have added fuel to their fire.

The Chiefs’ season is over with their second title in as many years. Kansas City Offensive Coordinator was appointed. Eric Bienemy He has been suggested as a possible Head Coach. But he’s been in the same place for the past two year and hasn’t yet taken the next step. This has occurred despite the fact that he looks like the most qualified candidate on the market — white or black.

Skip Bayless claims it’s because of the indifference of white NFL owners to the idea that a black Head Coach would be hired. “I have been dumbfounded by it,” Bayless spoke this week. “It has been inexplicable to me, but then in the end, it’s really pretty explicable.”

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“These older white owners just aren’t that comfortable with a black head coach because they need to interact, they need to go to dinner with the wives or the significants, or whatever. “And they aren’t that comfortable. It’s going to be easier for them to get along a young, white hot candidate when they do have an interview.

“It’s just culture, it’s just the way life is,” Bayless was terminated. “And I don’t know how to defeat it, because each of these guys is an independent owner in the umbrella of the NFL.”

The NFL has made it a policy to hire minority coaches and managers.  Before Super Bowl LVII in Glendale, Arizona, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell gave his ‘State of The League’ address to the media. He spoke out about minority hires, especially in the coaching area. A concerted effort has been made for many years to change the employment practices in professional football.

“I think there’s progress, and we’re pleased to see progress. But it’s never enough,” Goodell spoke. “We always look to sort of say, ‘How can we do better?’ A number of the things we implemented last year have proven to be direct beneficiaries of some of the changes that occurred.”

Five NFL head coaches were hired during the most recent round of hiring. Only one of the five head coaches was African-American. Only three black coaches are employed by the league, with 60% of its roster made up black players.

Goodell is facing a difficult dilemma that will probably continue to plague him for many years. Every solution he proposes seems to anger either side. It is also a topic that remains popular with sports shock jocks like Shannon Sharpe and Skip Bayless.

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