New Orleans Saints may go foul of Rooney Rule if they hire Bill Parcells - NFL News
New Orleans Saints may not have decided on whether former coach Bill Parcells will take over the head coaching job on an interim basis but the speculation of his arrival in the Big Easy has already created controversy.
According to the National Football League’s (NFL) Rooney Rule a team has to interview at least one person for the role who belongs to a minority in the United States.
The rule was introduced in 2003 to increase the presence of minorities especially African-Americans in the higher coaching positions.
However, if the Saints really want to get Parcells they will have to go through the motions of interviewing a minority candidate for what would essentially be an interview to take care of the legal issues or just go-ahead with Parcells and face more fines
from the NFL.
The Saints are unlikely to incur the wrath of the league any time soon after being slapped with hefty penalties for running an illegal bounty program.
Former coach Herm Edwards in an interview with ESPN lambasted the Saints for what he said was a disservice to the rule since Sean Payton has already suggested that Parcells’ is the coach that they want.
"It makes it a little bit of a scam now. That's the shame of it all. Sean Payton opening his mouth like he did, he really reflects that this thing is going to become a sham if Bill Parcells takes this job. Because if you do decide to interview a minority,
you're going to go with Bill Parcells. You've already said, 'This is our coach.' That's the shame of it all. It puts (NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell) in another bind."
The Saints and Parcells have still not agreed to a deal and nothing is certain but both parties have made statements suggesting that Parcells hiring is a foregone conclusion.
Edwards anger stems from this issue as he goes on to say that doing a sham interview with a minority with no chance of getting the job is unethical.
“They're making a mockery of the rule right now."
The rule was introduced by Pittsburgh Steelers owner and chairman of the league’s diversity committee Dan Rooney.
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