Within a couple hours of former Dolphins head coach Brian Flores filing a lawsuit alleging racist hiring practices, the NFL released a statement saying the suit was without merit. But in a memo to top NFL executives, Goodell acknowledged a failure to make progress on increasing diversity among head coaches.
The memo, issued to club presidents and chief executives, touts the NFL’s efforts at diversity but doesn’t hide the plain fact that there isn’t much diversity within the ranks of head coaches.
“We have made significant efforts to promote diversity and adopted numerous policies and programs which have produced positive change in many areas, however we must acknowledge that particularly with respect to head coaches the results have been unacceptable,” Goodell wrote. “We will reevaluate and examine all policies, guidelines and initiatives relating to diversity, equity and inclusion, including as they relate to gender.”
And despite the claim that Flores’ lawsuit was meritless, Goodell did acknowledge legitimate concerns that Flores has addressed.
“We understand the concerns expressed by Coach Flores and others this week,” Goodell wrote. “While the legal process moves forward, we will not wait to reassess and modify our strategies to ensure that they are consistent with our values and longstanding commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion.”