Amid the backdrop of Brian Flores’ racial discrimination lawsuit against the NFL, the league announced on Monday an update to its diversity policy that will require teams to hire a minority or female candidate as an offensive assistant.
The league announced the policy change from its annual owners meetings in Palm Beach, Florida.
“Beginning this season, all 32 clubs will employ a diverse person (female or a member of an ethnic or racial minority) to serve as an offense assistant,” the new policy reads.
The league will reimburse teams for the assistant’s salary for up to two years. Why the mandate that the coach work on offense?
“In recent years, head coaches have predominantly had offensive backgrounds,” the mandate reads.
The league’s Rooney Rule addressing the dearth of minority representation in NFL front office and head coaching positions has been under fire as ineffective. Flores accused multiple teams of conducting “sham” interviews with him in order to meet the requirement that…