PITTSBURGH — When he was head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Bruce Arians created the most diverse coaching staff in the NFL. He had 12 assistants, including all four coordinators, who were Black. He had the only staff that included two females as full-time coaches. If there were ever a poster child for the inclusiveness the league claims it wants to develop, it was Arians.
Now, the distinction is being held by Mike Tomlin.
With the recent hiring of Aaron Curry as the Steelers' inside linebackers coach, replacing Jerry Olsavsky, Tomlin has the highest number and greatest percentage of Black assistant coaches on his staff in the league.
Of the 14 positions on Tomlin's staff (including himself), the Steelers have 11 coaches who are Black — a 73.3 percentage that is easily the highest in the league and well above the estimated league average of Black assistant coaches (35% to 40%).
Only the Houston Texans, who recently made DeMeco Ryans their third consecutive Black head coach, have as many Black coaches as the Steelers. They are the only other team where Black coaches make up more than half their staff (11 of 18, 61.1%).
The review of the league's coaching staffs was conducted from the updated website of all 32 teams and included head coach, coordinators, position and quality control coaches and those who had minority fellowship candidates. It did not include strength and conditioning coaches. Those numbers could still be altered if teams make additional changes to the staff, including by new head-coaching hires.
Tomlin, who has been outspoken about the lack of Black head coaches in the league, has not been afraid to make changes to his staff while providing opportunities for advancement for minorities.
"I think that we've pecked around the entire discussion and subject and we've done a lot of beneficial things," Tomlin said last year at the NFL owners meeting when adjustments were made to the Rooney Rule that was adopted in 2003 to enhance job opportunities for minorities. "But we've got to land the plane. We've got to hire capable candidates.
"I don't have a level of confidence that would lead me to believe that things are going to be better. I'm more of a 'show me' guy as opposed to a guy that sits around and talks about things."
Tomlin is one of six minority head coaches in the league, along with Ryans, Tampa Bay's Todd Bowles, Miami's Mike McDaniel, the New York Jets' Robert Saleh and Washington's Ron Rivera. When five head-coach vacancies opened after the 2022 season, Ryans was the only minority hire among the five.
The NFL has had as many as seven Black head coaches at the beginning of a season, most recently in 2018. But it has also had as few as three, including at the start of 2022 — Tomlin, Bowles and Lovie Smith (Houston). In the league's 102-year history, only 26 Black men have served as head coaches. Thirteen teams, nearly 41% of the league, have never had a Black non-interim head coach.
As for the league's current coaching staffs ...
The Arizona Cardinals have the fewest amount of Black coaches on the staff of new head coach Jonathan Gannon — just four among the 20 positions. That is curious because Cardinals owner and chairman Michael Bidwill serves on the NFL's diversity, equity and inclusion committee. Steelers president Art Rooney II is chairman of that committee.
The Cincinnati Bengals had the lowest percentage of Black coaches on their staff (23.8%) — just five of 21 positions. The Cardinals and Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs (6 of 24) were right behind at 25%, though it must be noted the Chiefs lost offensive coordinator Eric Bienemy to the Washington Commanders.
Only four teams — the Steelers, Texans, Buccaneers (9 of 18) and Chicago Bears (10 of 20) — have coaching staffs where at least 50% are Black. Eight teams — Bengals, Cardinals, Chiefs, Buffalo Bills, New Orleans Saints, Denver Broncos, Las Vegas Raiders and Jacksonville Jaguars — fall below the league average of 35% to 40%.
Mike Tomlin isn't sitting around talking about it. He is providing opportunities and doing something about it.
