Have the Seattle Seahwaks violated the Rooney Rule?


Well it is now official, former Head Coach of the USC Trojans Pete Carroll, is not the head coach of the Seattle Seahawks. However it seems that the Seahawks may have completely ignored the spirit, if not flat out broke, the NFL Rooney Rule. This rule was put into place not only to help minority candidates get NFL jobs, but to slow the entire process down so that NFL teams do their homework and get the right man for the job. It seems that the Seahawks did just the opposite of that, knowing Carroll was ready to leave USC amidst probable NCAA sanctions they swooped in and hired him up without doing their due diligence.

Let us remember why we have the Rooney Rule. First we have it because the Detroit Lions turned control of their franchise over to inexperienced President and General Manager Matt Millen, and he hired inexperienced Marty Mornhinweg to be their head coach. We all know how that story ends, and yes the NFL adopted this rule to get more minorities into head coaching positions. There are 32 NFL head coaching jobs and just six of them are held by minorities. That is better than what the past has been, but still not a socially acceptable ratio.

The Seahawks did reach out to Minnesota Vikings Defensive Coordinator Leslie Frasier who politely told them where to stick there, oh crap we forgot about the Rooney Rule interview. Now the team has come and stated that they pursued Tony Dungy to be their new President. While all that is good, it does not meet the requirements of the Rooney Rule. In fact it does not look like the Seahawks interviewed any other candidates besides Carroll, who has a questionable record as a NFL head coach at best.

Former Seahawks head coach Jim Mora was fired on Friday, and Carroll was introduced to the media on Monday. The team has stated that they spent Sunday talking with Carroll, so when were the other interviews? Who else was considered? These are questions NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell is going to have to find answers too, and fines and other punishment may be forthcoming for the Seahawks organization.

More Seattle Seahawks news and notes

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