Roger Goodell Offers Curious Defense Of Patriots Ignoring The Rooney Rule

LAS VEGAS – The New England Patriots and Bill Belichick announced they "mutually agreed to part ways" on January 11th and one day later, the club announced Jerod Mayo was the new head coach and Belichick's successor.

The lightning-fast way the change in eras happened in New England never included any interviews for the job with other candidates. 

Not one.

FOXBOROUGH, MASSACHUSETTS - JANUARY 17: (L-R) Newly appointed head coach Jerod Mayo and Owner Robert Kraft of the New England Patriots pose for a photo following a press conference at Gillette Stadium on January 17, 2024 in Foxborough, Massachusetts. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)

Did Pats Circumvent Rooney Rule?

Patriots owner Robert Kraft and Mayo had last year negotiated a clause in their contract that effectively made Mayo the coach-in-waiting. If the club had a coaching vacancy, the clause basically said, Mayo was next in line.

So on Monday, during his state of the NFL address in front of invited reporters, Goodell was asked if this approach was palatable to the NFL or whether it subverted the Rooney Rule.

The Rooney Rule mandates NFL clubs must conduct an in-person interview with at least two external diverse – minority and/or female – candidates for any head coaching or general manager opening. 

And regardless of the fact Mayo is black, the Patriots didn't interview anyone else. But Goodell defended New England's actions.

"I also don't take the same approach that that was done to skirt the Rooney Rule," Goodell said. "Robert Kraft made that commitment a year ago in a contractual agreement. That if Bill Belichick is not the head coach, you will be the head coach.

"I think that's smart management. Ultimately, we all want to keep our people, develop our people."

FOXBOROUGH, MASSACHUSETTS - JANUARY 17: Newly appointed head coach Jerod Mayo of the New England Patriots speaks to the media during a press conference at Gillette Stadium on January 17, 2024 in Foxborough, Massachusetts. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)

Roger Goodell Defends Mayo Hiring

The Patriots, Goodell said, realized Mayo is great head coach material for them before the job came open. 

"That is, I think, a very positive thing for teams to do," Goodell said. "I don't believe it's skirting the Rooney Rule. I actually believe it's benefiting our players and our coaches to have that kind of stability."

But here's the thing: What if Mayo were white?

What if Kraft had identified a previous assistant coach, perhaps Matt Patricia who, like Mayo, was a successful defensive coordinator for the Patriots, and he wanted to retain him if Belichick was no longer in charge?

Could Patricia, a white man, have gotten a clause in his contract extension guaranteeing his succession to the head coach spot without anyone else being interviewed?

Extremely unlikely.

And that's the hypocrisy of some of the NFL's diversity, equity and inclusion rules. They want to be inclusive but just not to white men. 

The rules that reach for equity are themselves inequitable. It's like trying to right a wrong by utilizing another wrong.

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - FEBRUARY 05: NFL commissioner Roger Goodell speaks to the media during a press conference ahead of Super Bowl LVIII at Allegiant Stadium on February 05, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

Patriots Fine Because Mayo Is Black

The Patriots didn't go through the process of interviewing candidates as mandated by the Rooney Rules – whether the candidates were white, black or avocado green and pink.

So Goodell was asked if that is not subverting the process of conducting a fair and thoughtful hiring process.

"If you're making a commitment that he's going to be a head coach a year from now, I don't think that's proven to be a subversion of that," Goodell said. "So I don't see that. 

"If that becomes reality, we'll have to address that further. Again, I think it's a really smart approach to develop our own personnel and put them in a position to be a head coach."

Again, if a handful of owners across the NFL decided they're going to keep white assistant coaches via contract clauses that promote them to head coach in case of a vacancy, wouldn't that cause an uproar?

Would Goodell defend that move as not subverting the Rooney Rule?

No one would defend that.

So the Patriots, which indeed did not comply with the Rooney Rule, get a pass because they hired a black head coach.

And the idea it was all a good management approach only applies because, again, they hired a black head coach.