BOSTON (CBS) — The NFL’s Rooney Rule has come under scrutiny in the past week like never before, with Brian Flores documenting the feeling that many Black coaches have felt but never before expressed so publicly.
With the Flores lawsuit being such a major story hanging over the NFL right now, it was an obvious topic of conversation when former Patriots linebacker and current Patriots inside linebackers coach Jerod Mayo spoke with Zolak & Bertrand on 98.5 The Sports Hub on Wednesday.
Mayo — who’s gone on head coaching interviews with the Eagles, Broncos and Raiders — said that the NFL has handled the Rooney Rule “poorly” before expanding on his comments.
“I think, honestly, the Rooney Rule — great thought behind it, poor implementation,” Mayo said. “And from my perspective, I never wanted to get a job because I was Black. I wanted to get a job because I was competent, because I care about the guys. But what you do want is a fair shot. You want a fair shot at an interview process. But it’s natural as well — and this is why I don’t, I’m not going to comment until I get more information on this whole thing, and I haven’t gone through the lawsuit. But what I will say is it’s frustrating when I know, I’ve run across competent coaches all the time, you know, competent Black coaches all the time. And I’ve also met incompetent white coaches.”
Mayo continued: “And that’s not a knock or shade to anyone else. But what I will say is, I look at these interviews as a way for me to grow, right? I didn’t go in there with any expectation of I’m getting a job, I’m not getting a job. I wanted to put my best foot forward and try to get the job, obviously. But at the same time, I look at it as an opportunity to get outside of the New England bubble, and just learn from other people as well. Because even though they’re interviewing me, they didn’t know, but I was also interviewing them. Because then literally, you’re going to cross paths with these people again. So that’s how I looked at it.”
The 35-year-old Mayo said he sees the lack of head coaching opportunities as more of an issue for the coaches who have been around for a long time than he does for someone like himself.
“I’m frustrated more for the Leslie Fraziers of the world. I’m more frustrated for the coaches like that, you know, the Jim Caldwells of the world than I am for myself,” Mayo said. “Because for myself, I’ve only been coaching three years. Let’s put it in perspective. For me, I’ve only been coaching for three years going into my fourth year, and I’ve already had three head coaching interviews. Now a lot of people will say, ‘Well, Jerod, you’ve never had a fair shake at it,’ but I would say it was an opportunity for me just to continue to grow and really, it’s unheard of to have those head coach interviews with such a little experience.”
Mayo made it clear that he does have a goal of becoming a head coach, and that he’s been learning a lot while working under Bill Belichick.
“I don’t just enjoy defense. I love it, but I don’t just enjoy defense. I enjoy the game of football. I enjoy learning from different people and I also enjoy the personnel side, which Bill over the last couple of years has given us more time to spend with the scouts, which has been beneficial for me,” Mayo said. “So I look at all of this stuff for me right now, a young coach, young Black coach, I look at the opportunities that I have right now and just look for opportunities for growth. Now I do see the frustration from these other coaches’ side. I do. I absolutely do. And it is frustrating that 70 percent of the league is made up of Black players [without many Black head coaches].”
Mayo concluded that the lack of diversity among NFL owners is likely at the root of the lack of diversity atop coaching staffs.
“There aren’t many teams going up for sale, and there aren’t many Black billionaires. Let’s just be honest about the situation,” Mayo said. “But what I will say is that the GM cycle this past cycle, it makes me hopeful. It makes me hopeful that with [Ryan] Pace [in Chicago] and with [Kwesi Adofo-Mensah] out in Minnesota, that having these guys in positions of power, that this will have a trickle-down effect, that these guys are decision-makers in the next couple of cycles. So we’ll see what happens.”
