NFL owners, time to wake up after big seasons from several head coaches of color

NFL owners chased the next Sean McVay and gave the retreads new life, and look where it got them.

Arthur Smith got fired. So did Brandon Staley. Josh McDaniels and Frank Reich didn’t even make it through the season. Meanwhile, the Houston Texans, who finally got it right by hiring DeMeco Ryans, are playoff bound and AFC South champs.

Seems as if there’s a lesson there.

Every year at this time, the spotlight is cast on the NFL’s shameful record for diversity. It’s been 20 years since the Rooney Rule was implemented to help break down barriers for head coaches of color, and there were all of seven this season. And one was an interim.

The league has tried different ways to encourage owners to give deserving Black and brown candidates the same chance they do white ones, some of whom are even less qualified, to no avail. The owners just keep hiring different versions of the same people and ending up with largely the same results.

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Wash. Rinse. Repeat.

But maybe, just maybe, what happened this season will finally convince owners to break their cycle of insanity.

Of the NFL's seven coaches of color this season, four made the playoffs. The most impressive showing was by Ryans' Texans, who went from being the NFL's second-worst team last year to the first in more than a decade to make the playoffs with a rookie head coach and rookie quarterback.

The Texans are not exactly known as a forward-thinking or progressive franchise. Sure, their previous two head coaches were Black men, but David Culley and Lovie Smith were both hired to get fired. With the Deshaun Watson mess behind them and a roster in flux, the assumption was the Texans would go with one of the in-demand up-and-comers or a trusted veteran.

Lo and behold, Philadelphia offensive coordinator Shane Steichen and Eagles defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon both got interviews. So did Sean Payton. All three became head coaches elsewhere, Steichen in Indianapolis, Gannon in Arizona and Payton with Denver.

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Ryans was, if not a longshot, certainly in the neighborhood. Though considered one of the top assistants in the game, he was only six years into his coaching career and had spent them all with the same team, the San Francisco 49ers. He was also on the wrong side of the ball, a defensive coordinator in an era when offensive assistants are all the rage.

He wasn’t a hot commodity, either. The Denver Broncos were the only other team to interview him last year, and he’d talked to Minnesota the year before. Smith had almost twice that many interviews just in 2021.

But Ryans had played for the Texans, winning defensive rookie of the year honors in 2006, so Houston owner Cal McNair at least knew him. And his former teammates raved about him, with J.J. Watt calling him, “One of the best teammates & leaders I’ve ever been around.”

"LET’S GOOOOOOO!!!!!!" Watt said on social media after Ryans was hired. "You want to reenergize and reignite the incredible Houston fan base, this is a hell of a start!! Cannot wait to see what Meco does."

Turns out, Ryans was the find of last year’s coaching cycle.

Despite inexperience at key positions − like QB C.J. Stroud, starting left guard Juice Scruggs is a rookie while receiver Nico Collins is in his second year − the Texans had their first winning season since 2019. Which is also the last time the Texans won the division. Stroud has played so well he’s a heavy favorite for offensive rookie of the year.

The Texans weren’t perfect − the loss to Carolina was ugly, as was that thumping by the Jets − but they were balanced and well-coached and they finished the season strong, with wins in three of their last four games.

"It’s been quite a turnaround," McNair said last month. "The players have responded. They play for him. They play hard."

If that isn’t enough to make owners rethink who the “right” coach is, then consider what happened in Las Vegas.

McDaniels was once the NFL’s wunderkind, the genius behind Tom Brady and the New England Patriots' offense. Despite a less-than-impressive showing by McDaniels in Denver, and the pleas of his players to remove Rich Bisaccia’s interim tag, Raiders owner Mark Davis was convinced McDaniels was the answer to his perpetually mediocre franchise.

He was not.

After a loss to the Lions dropped the Raiders to 3-5, Davis fired McDaniels and appointed Antonio Pierce as the interim coach. All Pierce did was go 5-4, including leading the Raiders to their first win in Kansas City since 2020 and only their second since 2012.

"That’s my vote, and that’s basically how the whole locker room feels," Davante Adams said last week when asked whether Pierce should get the job permanently. "With good reason. He’s come in and done a great job."

There are other coaches of color who would, too, if only NFL owners would give them a shot.

Follow USA TODAY Sports columnist Nancy Armour on social media @nrarmour.