AA Coaches in the NFL or the lack of...

[AKA2D '91]

League to respond to lawyers' request for meeting

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Associated Press


NEW YORK -- The NFL is considering meeting with two lawyers threatening to sue the league over the lack of black head coaches.

NFL spokesman Greg Aiello confirmed Sunday that the league received a request from Johnnie Cochran Jr. and Cyrus Mehri, the two lawyers who released a report on the issue last week.

"We've had many meetings over the years on this subject," Aiello said. "We're considering the request and will respond next week."

The letter, first reported in the New York Times, was addressed to commissioner Paul Tagliabue, who was out of town. Aiello said that while Tagliabue might not meet with Cochran and Mehri, they could meet with some other top league official.

Tagliabue long has advocated hiring more black coaches. There are currently two in the NFL -- Tony Dungy of the Indianapolis Colts and Herman Edwards of the New York Jets.

Using statistics from the past 15 years, the lawyers' report said black coaches had been more successful than their white counterparts, but that they weren't being hired in numbers commensurate with that success.

"Black coaches are being held to a higher standard," Cochran said. "Now is the time for the NFL to step up and make a change."

Since Art Shell became the first black head coach of the modern era with the Raiders in 1989, there have been five: Dungy, Edwards, Shell, Dennis Green and Ray Rhodes. Terry Robiskie was an interim coach with Washington for three games in 2000