Are the Bears overrated? Kalyn Kahler calls in to discuss and talk about the NFL landscape heading into training camps (HOUR 4)
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
I absolutely want to coach in this league, but I also know that this isn't, I'm not the only story here. I'm not the only one with a story to tell. You're speaking up for decades of this going on and hopefully stopping it from happening. This is, you know, there are people who have come before me and I know there are others who have similar stories and it's hard to speak out. It is, you know, you're giving up, you're making some sacrifices, but this is, again, this is bigger than football, this is bigger than coaching.
That is Brian Flores on CBS this morning in 2022 talking about his lawsuit against the NFL that we now know is going to be a public discussion. This is Rahimi Harrison-Grody on 104.3 The Score. And it is a good place to discuss. What is a very, very, very compelling article that has come out on ESPN.com, courtesy of our friend Kaylin Kaler. She is at Kaylin Kaler on Twitter. She's the NFL senior writer at ESPN. Catch more of her content on Instagram, Kaylin Kaler Reports, TikTok. She is KDogReports. This was team journalism with Kaylin Kaler, Chris Rim, and Jason Reed. Inside NFL Rooney Rule coaches say is rigged against them. Kaylin, thank you for coming on with us today. Thanks for having me.
Yeah, team journalism for sure. I've been working on this story for actually exactly a year. Like I first talked to Patrick Graham, who is kind of the centerpiece of the story because he shares about a negative experience that he had while interviewing for the Jacksonville Jaguars head coaching job. I talked to him about his experience a year ago at Raiders camp. And then it became kind of clear to me that like his story was really compelling, but I wanted to make it bigger than just him. And I wanted to incorporate more coaches stories who are similar of coaches who feel that the Rooney Rule is actually failing them. Like this rule that is intended to boost minority hiring and get more black and minority head coaches in the NFL is in fact, in many cases, failing the people that it is intended to help and making many of them feel kind of used and abused in the process of interviewing for head coaching jobs.
And Caitlin, this story was wonderfully done, and it's really meticulous. And one of the things that I walked away thinking about when I read it was how this is truly a microcosm in a lot of ways of society at large. And you're seeing this play out in the world of sports, where you think it's going to be more merit-based than maybe some other industries. But The good old boy network seems to be alive and well. With Patrick Graham, your kind of starting point for this and ending point as you bring the story full circle, he has a job. Brian Flores, of course, famously has a job despite litigation against the NFL.
What problem does Kaylin Kaler's ESPN investigation expose about the NFL's Rooney Rule?
How much fear was there in the sources that you talked to, the ones who were on the record and the ones who requested to remain anonymous, that there would be blowback and potential blackballing for even coming forward and talking about this?
There was a ton of fear. We ended up speaking to, I believe, 13 black NFL coaches that are currently in the NFL. And then I would say probably double that amount didn't want to talk, didn't want to talk even anonymously because there is so much distrust of the hiring process among particularly black NFL coaches. And it's totally, you know, found it. I mean, when Brian Flores, a lot of people think Brian Flores, who is currently he's currently the Vikings defensive coordinator. A lot of people think he is never going to be a head coach again. And partly because of his lawsuit, which, as Layla mentioned at the top of the show. at the top of the break is because it is clear to actually remain in federal court, which is amazing.
It's an amazing feat because the NFL is so good at keeping all of this in arbitration because, you know, part of the agreement of if you work for an NFL club is that you will handle disputes and arbitration. It's in your coaching contract. It's in like the personnel handbook. It's all over on how the NFL does business is they are able to keep so many of these disputes in
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Chapters
5 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:03–2:54
2
What problem does Kaylin Kaler's ESPN investigation expose about the NFL's Rooney Rule?
2:54–7:42
3
How did Patrick Graham's Jacksonville interview illustrate Rooney Rule shortcomings?
7:42–16:54
4
Why are many Black coaches afraid to speak about the NFL hiring process?
16:54–44:22
5
What happened to the NFL's minority offensive assistant program and why did it end?
44:22–44:24
Speakers
5 identifiedMore from Rahimi & Grote Show
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