For the moment, Brian Johnson is the pipeline.
The NFL is a glass-ceiling institution if ever there was one. League commissioner Roger Goodell on Wednesday made his annual, hollow admission that a 32-team league with more than 60% Black players facing a lawsuit for discriminatory hiring practices should have more than three Black head coaches.
Goodell and the NFL have defended the league’s hiring practices for years by saying its owners feel most comfortable hiring former offensive coordinators and/or play-callers as head coaches. Super Bowl LVII coaches Andy Reid of the Chiefs and Nick Sirianni of the Eagles, who are white, each meet those qualifications. So does Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy, who is Black.