Rooney Rule
What is the Rooney Rule?
Who was Dan Rooney?
How has the Rooney Rule been expanded since its inception?
How has the Rooney Rule influenced corporate America?
The Rooney Rule is a requirement implemented by the National Football League (NFL) in 2003 that teams must interview at least one diverse candidate for every head coaching job. Named for Pittsburgh Steelers owner and head of the group that recommended the policy, the late Dan Rooney, the Rooney Rule has been expanded by the NFL to cover other positions. Versions of the Rooney Rule have also been adopted broadly by corporate America to diversify leadership.
Origin and expansion of the rule
- Fritz Pollard: The first Black NFL coach did much to integrate football in the 1920s.
Fritz Pollard: a man of firstsFritz Pollard, shown in 1915, was the first Black head coach in the NFL. He was also the first Black player in the Rose Bowl and the first Black quarterback in the NFL. - Mike Tomlin: Hired by Dan Rooney’s Pittsburgh Steelers in 2007, Tomlin is (as of 2025) the longest-tenured NFL head coach.
Fritz Pollard was the NFL’s first Black head coach when he was hired by the Akron Pros in 1921. It would be 68 years before another Black man would coach an NFL team, when Art Shell was named the Los Angeles Raiders (now the Las Vegas Raiders) head coach in 1989. Even as the percentage of Black NFL players grew, the number of Black people in leadership positions did not. It was against that backdrop that the NFL’s diversity committee, led by Rooney, put in place the requirement that at least one diverse candidate be interviewed for every head coaching position. As far back as the 1960s Rooney had worked to increase the number of Black players in the NFL by recruiting from Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs).
Over the years, the NFL has expanded the policy. As of 2025 the Rooney Rule requirements are that each NFL team must:
- Interview at least two diverse candidates for every head coach, general manager, and coordinator position.
- Interview at least one diverse candidate for every quarterback coaching position.
- Consider women as diverse candidates for purposes of interviewing for these roles.
Results of the Rooney Rule have been mixed. In 2024 there were nine diverse head coaches among the 32 teams in the NFL; six of them were Black. There have never been more than 10 Black head coaches in a single season. (In 2023 about 54 percent of NFL players identified as Black.) The league has also faced allegations that some teams follow the letter but not the spirit of the rule, doing the bare minimum to comply without really intending to hire a diverse team leader. In 2022 former Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores sued the NFL, accusing the league and several teams of racist hiring practices.
Rooney, who died in 2017, remained a stalwart advocate of the policy that bore his name. He said he understood that the rule couldn’t guarantee specific outcomes but that its existence would matter over time.
The Rooney Rule in corporate America
Since the Rooney Rule’s implementation, companies across the United States, including many in the Fortune 500, have adopted versions of it, with some going even further than the NFL. Often referred to as “diverse candidate slates” in the private sector, policies can require that at least one person of color and one woman be considered for all open positions. In the wake of the 2020 murder of George Floyd by a white police officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota, many companies enhanced their diversity policies, including adopting versions of the Rooney rule.
By and large courts have held that mandating diversity in the hiring pool is not a discriminatory or illegal hiring practice. However, even before the 2024 reelection of Pres. Donald Trump and his executive orders dismantling diversity, equity, and inclusion programs in the federal government, the Rooney Rule and its corporate progeny were facing increasing legal challenges. In 2024 America First Legal, a nonprofit group founded by Trump adviser Stephen Miller, filed a complaint against the NFL and pharmaceutical company Sanofi over their policies to ensure diversity in the job-hiring process.
While some companies have cut back on diversity programs, the NFL seems ready to stand behind its now decades-long practice. According to an NFL spokesperson responding to the complaint:
“We are proud of the work that we have done to promote equal employment opportunities for women and people of color and the resulting growth in diversity throughout the NFL.…Diversity makes us better.”