The Rooney Rule is a touchy subject all around the NFL for some people, even for members of the Pittsburgh Steelers fan base, after which the name comes, from the team’s former president and owner, Dan Rooney.
The Rooney Rule has been in place for a couple of decades now and makes it a prerequisite that teams interview minority candidates while filling vacancies at the head coaching position. The rule was later expanded to include high-ranking members of the front office.
One can argue, however, just how much of an impact it has had, not only over the course of the past couple of decades, but also in recent years, especially in light of a couple of significant hires in which at least the spirit, if not the wording of the rule was violated, as in the Oakland Raiders’ hiring of Jon Gruden.