Super Bowl champ says NFL's Rooney Rule a 'joke' to teams, criticizes how Patriots complied

Ryan Clark, a one-time Super Bowl champion and existent ESPN NFL analyst, ripped  the New England Patriots for however they complied with the Rooney Rule during their head-coaching search.

The NFL’s Rooney Rule, which was created by the NFL’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Committee successful 2003, requires each squad with a head-coaching vacancy to interrogation astatine slightest 2 oregon much divers candidates for the job. The regularisation expanded successful 2022 to see interviews for women arsenic portion of the "minority campaigner definition."

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The Patriots hired Mike Vrabel arsenic their adjacent manager astir a week aft firing Jerod Mayo. The squad interviewed Pep Hamilton and Byron Leftwich to comply with the Rooney Rule – each done earlier the playoffs were over.

"I deliberation this benignant of puts a airy connected the Rooney Rule, which, to me, the New England Patriots made a mockery of," Clark said Thursday connected "Inside the NFL." "To interrogation Pep Hamilton and Byron Leftwich, 2 coaches who aren’t adjacent successful shot close now, conscionable to fulfill a quota. 

"The Rooney Rule was enactment successful spot truthful immoderate of these number coaches could get opportunities to get successful beforehand of immoderate of the executives and immoderate of these owners, that genuinely were looking to springiness the occupation to the champion person. Now, I privation to marque it wide – I judge we person moved to a constituent wherever organizations volition prosecute the champion idiosyncratic they consciousness for the job. But let’s not marque coaches, who person worked their full lives for this opportunity, beryllium the token interview.

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"I deliberation a amended solution is for teams who privation to skip the Rooney Rule, similar the New England Patriots astir apt would have, due to the fact that they wanted Mike Vrabel, let them to prosecute idiosyncratic connected the little level that reports straight to the caput coach, reports to straight to the violative coordinator, truthful they could get immoderate of that tutelage that allows their resumes and their careers to build.

"Let’s halt with the bull-crap interviews conscionable to accidental we did what the Rooney Rule was expected to do. When it was implemented initially, I judge it worked. It has present tally its people and go thing that is simply a gag to NFL and NFL coaches, and much importantly, to the radical it was expected to help."

Vrabel has a agelong past with the Patriots, having won 3 Super Bowl titles with the squad during his playing career.

He started his coaching vocation with the Tennessee Titans successful 2018. He was 54-45 with the Titans and led them to 3 playoff appearances, including an AFC Championship appearance.

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