When looking at the most controversial and/or questionable roster moves made so far this year, those picks were made by NFL front offices led by two retreads (Dave Gettleman & John Dorsey), a former TV analyst (Mike Mayock), and a couple of former players with zero front office experience (John Elway & John Lynch). Meanwhile, Jerry Reese (who built the two-time Super Bowl Champion New York Giants squad) remains unemployed. Rick Smith built The Houston Texans into a relevant franchise; but has yet to see a second opportunity. And the 2016 Executive Of The Year Award Winner-Reggie McKenzie turned The Oakland Raiders into a 12-4 team of the future; but was ousted so that Jon Gruden could consolidate his power over the franchise (what would Al Davis think?) Ray Farmer and Sashi Brown were fired for not turning water into wine; but arguably eleven other teams continue to flounder in mediocrity & bad decision making without questioning the choices made from up on high. Coaches continue to be fired, and this past season brought new meaning to “Black Monday,” but the GMs for these teams remain safe-even though they are the ones that built these horrible teams (more on that later). And these GMs continue to fire/refuse to hire Black & Latino Coaches-preferring instead to hire from a coaching tree that does not yet exist, one rehire, a couple of new faces from losing teams, and one coaxed out of retirement. Four Black Coaches were fired during, or after the 2018 season. The most eye-popping firing was the dismissal of Steve Wilks, by The Arizona Cardinals, after only one year. And who did they replace him with? The Cards replaced him with Kliff Kingsbury, who had just been fired at Texas Tech after posting a losing 35-40 record during his six years there. Yep, that makes sense (Not!). Denver’s firing of Vance Joseph, after only two seasons, never raised enough eyebrows either-being that John Elway keeps wasting money & draft picks on bad quarterbacks.
So who is that lone Black General Manager in The NFL? He is Chris Grier of The Miami Dolphins, who ironically made the only new hire of a black coach this season. Grier, who came up as a New England Patriot’s Scout, chose New England Defensive Coordinator Brian Flores to take The Dolphins to the next level. The pressure will surely be on for both Grier, and Flores, as history says that brothers do not get much time to implement their programs. Add the reality that The NFL’s first ever Black General Manager (Ozzie Newsome) has retired, and coaches like Mike Tomlin are going into the season on the hot seat. Regardless of roster moves, that let two elite level superstars leave-while giving yet more money to an interception prone QB, Tomlin will surely be forced to fall on the sword if The Steelers do not shine this season. Let’s also keep an eye out for the Senior Vice President of Player Personnel, in Washington, Doug Williams. The D.C. franchise is yet another one known for dysfunction; so hopefully this legend will actually get a fair shake at proving he belongs amongst the front office elite.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/terencemoore/2019/01/02/nfl-teams-keep-firing-black-head-coaches-but-thats-not-the-problem/#4a75b9406a55
http://insidethepylon.com/nfl/2019/03/25/towards-a-level-playing-field-the-hiring-and-firing-of-minority-gms/