ASHBURN, Va. (news agencies) — Washington Commanders wide receiver Terry McLaurin paused for a moment to think while speaking to a reporter after a practice this season.
“Now that you mention it,” McLaurin said, “I’ve never had a Black head coach in high school, college or the NFL. Coordinators and position coaches only.”
McLaurin, like the majority of NFL players, is Black, and, like some of his colleagues, harbors concerns about the lack of Black head coaches. media surveyed more than 65 Black players from 25 teams about the topic, and more than a third — about 36% — were discouraged or disappointed by the number of Black coaches.
“Until you see more coaches,” Dolphins linebacker Anthony Walker Jr. said, “we’re all going to look at it the same way: There aren’t enough Black coaches.”
For Sunday’s Super Bowl between the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles, both starting quarterbacks are Black. Neither coach is.
Panthers safety Nick Scott sees a parallel with how long it took clubs to discard biases about Black QBs.
“They were labeled as ‘not as cerebral.’ That was the narrative. But I don’t know how you go about changing that (for coaches),” Scott said. “I would hate for it to turn into some affirmative action thing, where people are getting pushed into a job whether they are qualified or not. So it’s a tricky balance, right? … But I think there are plenty of guys who are qualified.”
At a time when President Donald Trump has moved to end federal government diversity, equity and inclusion programs, and a number of prominent companies scaled back DEI initiatives, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said Monday the league will continue its “diversity efforts.”
Several players the news agencies interviewed noted the gap between the proportion of Black athletes in the NFL — 53.5% in 2023, according to The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport (TIDES) — and that of Black head coaches, 22% to start this season. That might drop to 19% next season (six of 32), depending on the New Orleans Saints’ pick for the last opening.
“You can’t just overlook that discrepancy,” McLaurin said. “Obviously, you want the best candidate for the job, whether it’s someone who is Black, white, Asian or whoever. However, when you have a big representation of African-American players that are in your league, you would like to see that represented in coaching, as well.”
Setting aside interim hires, McLaurin’s Commanders is one of 11 clubs that never employed a full-time head coach who is Black, joining the Bills, Cowboys, Giants, Jaguars, Panthers, Rams, Ravens, Saints, Seahawks and Titans. That’s about a third of the NFL.
“No! Are you saying most Southern teams have never? That’s crazy! How many have never drafted a Black quarterback? Have you done that one?” Saints defensive end Cameron Jordan said. “There’s obvious franchises that won’t hire a Black coach.”
Over 25 seasons from 2000 through 2024, an news agencies count shows, 31 of 173 new NFL coaches — 18% — are Black. In that same span, eight of the 19 head coaches — 42% — fired after their first full season are Black.
“You’d be blind not to be discouraged,” Cowboys special teams player C.J. Goodwin said. “Black coaches can do it, can get the job done. … You don’t want to have the glass ceiling.”
Raiders defensive end Malcolm Koonce spoke for the 58% of surveyed players who answered “No” to that question (6% weren’t sure how they felt) by responding: “It’s, like, eyebrow-raising when you actually hear the number, but it’s not discouraging.”
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