The Rooney Rule is well-intentioned.
It's designed to assure that minority coaching candidates get their fair shot at jobs. It's a jab at the "good ol' boy" network, as you can't just hire some random retread who has a .450 win percentage but led a team to a 9-7 season once. Well, you can hire that guy, but not before you go through an actual interview process.
Anyway, the St. Louis Rams tried to -- in essence -- sneak past the Rooney Rule. They
fired Scott Linehan, named defensive coordinator Jim Haslett the interim coach, and then gave Haslett a contract that calls for him to be named the full-time head coach automatically
if he leads the Rams to six wins.
PFT reported that this provision caused Dan Rooney, owner of the Steelers and namesake of the rule, to lob a
phone call to the league office.
Now, CBSSports.com's Pete Prisco (via
PFT) reports the league has
voided Haslett's contract.
A member of the Oregon legislature plans to introduce a bill that would require the state's public universities, including Oregon and Oregon State, to interview at least one minority before hiring a head football coach.
