Nate Burleson Speaks On The Firing Of African American Coaches

[BringBackOrton]

21 minutes ago, C.Biscuit97 said:

Brian Daboll is a terrible OC who keeps getting big jobs.  All people do here is defend him because he’s had bad qbs.  Who were Wilkes and Joseph’s qbs?  Who got them those QBs?

 

Honestly, they might be bad coaches but to fire them after 1 year?  

Joseph coached two years. 

Edited January 1, 2019 by Hapless Bills Fan
inappropriate language

[whatdrought]

9 minutes ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

I will get out the tea and cucumber sandwiches to entertain your recent examples of such. 

Hint: it's quite rare.  First of all, it makes the person who did the hiring look like a fool.  And if he's a fool, well, shouldn't he go too?  Second of all, it's widely recognized that in football it takes time to turn things around.

 

Everyone wants what is best for their team.  The question is around how they perceive and evaluate this.

 

https://mobile.twitter.com/AdamSchefter/status/1079771375575990272

 

all but one on this list (excluding Wilkes) is white (unless I’m mistaken.)

 

one and done coaches don’t happen a lot, true, but it’s an equal racial breakdown when it does happen.

[C.Biscuit97]

5 minutes ago, BringBackOrton said:

??? 

 

I can think of two white coaches fired after a year within the last 3 years.

When are we going to address this racial disparity?  We need more Pacific Islanders playing CB.   It's gross.

"People who don't agree with me are close-minded" is the funniest take you've ever had.

 

You're a real shooting star CB.

I’m guessing this isn’t a very diverse group in this thread.  

 

 

[JoPar_v2]

2 minutes ago, klos63 said:

Keim has a dui as GM, maybe you smell alcohol too.

 

Yeah I’m aware I pointed that out earlier. Extreme DUI to be exact. He’s all good though he stays.

[Rico]

1 minute ago, whatdrought said:

 

https://mobile.twitter.com/AdamSchefter/status/1079771375575990272

 

all but one on this list (excluding Wilkes) is white (unless I’m mistaken.)

 

one and done coaches don’t happen a lot, true, but it’s an equal racial breakdown when it does happen.

Art Shell and Hue Jackson too, but it's all good. Marty's the only one who had a legitimate beef, the others were marginal to abysmal.

[whatdrought]

1 minute ago, C.Biscuit97 said:

I’m guessing this isn’t a very diverse group in this thread.  

 

 

 

Assuming people’s color based on their opinions?

 

hm... I wonder if there’s a word for that. 

[boyst]

2 minutes ago, C.Biscuit97 said:

I’m guessing this isn’t a very diverse group in this thread.  

 

 

It shouldn't matter the diversity of this thread, bro

 

The first thing that's always told in these arguments that really shows how poorly they are made is when someone says "you're not judged by your skin, so you don't know."

1 minute ago, whatdrought said:

 

Assuming people’s color based on their opinions?

 

hm... I wonder if there’s a word for that. 

He doesn't get it. CB has so much virtue he can't be given time to understand facts and that he's a bloviating racist.

[whatdrought]

Just now, Rico said:

Art Shell and Hue Jackson too, but it's all good. Marty's the only one who had a legitimate beef, the others were marginal to abysmal.

 

Jaxkson was the one I meant, and I didn’t catch Shell cause I didn’t know who that was.

 

is it racism to be a black man and hate a black man so badly that you would subject a black man (yourself) to working for Al Davis or his weird clone/son?

[blzrul]

The NFL is about 70% black. If playing football makes one a good coach, then one could reasonably expect over time that the majority of NFL coaches would rise from those ranks.  Thus there would be a great many more black coaches than there are today.

 

Now - should an incompetent coach be retained to maintain racial parity? Hell no. But the definition of incompetence should apply EQUALLY to white and black.  This doesn't mean to set a standard within the NFL. Every team owner/GM is in a unique situation.  And some guys, black or white, shouldn't be HC. But I'm pretty sure the bar is much higher for people of color - because that's the way it is elsewhere, not just the NFL. 

 

I don't have the answer.  But dismissing this out of hand smacks of white privilege.  Walk a mile in someone else's shoes before you presume to tell people how they should feel.  

[JMF2006]

Gruden signed a 10 yr 100m deal he isn't going nowhere for a while  

[BringBackOrton]

Just now, blzrul said:

The NFL is about 70% black. If playing football makes one a good coach, then one could reasonably expect over time that the majority of NFL coaches would rise from those ranks.  Thus there would be a great many more black coaches than there are today.

 

Now - should an incompetent coach be retained to maintain racial parity? Hell no. But the definition of incompetence should apply EQUALLY to white and black.  This doesn't mean to set a standard within the NFL. Every team owner/GM is in a unique situation.  And some guys, black or white, shouldn't be HC. But I'm pretty sure the bar is much higher for people of color - because that's the way it is elsewhere, not just the NFL. 

 

I don't have the answer.  But dismissing this out of hand smacks of white privilege.  Walk a mile in someone else's shoes before you presume to tell people how they should feel.  

Your second sentence is an ABSURD assumption. Most good coaches started early COACHING. 

 

Walk a mile in reality before telling people what shoes to wear.

[Hapless Bills Fan]

12 minutes ago, whatdrought said:

You definitely make some good points. But I don’t think that rules change implicit bias. If an owner refuses to hire black coaches, and his team sucks, then he’ll learn or lose. (And face a lot of backlash.)

 

the problem with affirmative action is that a negative doesn’t fix a negative. Instead of correcting racism by saying “we are going to judge everything by merit.” We said “we’re going  to fix racism by being racist in the other direction.” It’s still racism, even if it’s well intentioned. If a coach isn’t worthy of an interview, then he shouldn’t be interviewed. Regardless of his race. 

If an academic isn’t worthy of admission into Harvard (by pre-set standards) then he shouldn’t be admitted. Regardless of his race. The only fairness is to remove race entirely from the equation and let the free exchange of ideas, and the free market determine who should or should not be employed. 

 

The problem with this original post is that skin color was mentioned at all. Bad coaches were fired. Some were kept. Race doesn’t factor in. 

 

As I said above (and trying to keep it focused on football, or at least having a tie in to football), I view the Rooney Rule as too little too late, just like other forms of affirmative action.

It goes way back - are black players who have an interest in coaching getting encouragement to develop whatever extra skills they need?  Are they being evaluated evenly?  Offered equal mentoring?  When they are assistants, are they seen as equally capable, and helped to build whatever ancillary skills they need in an equitable way?  Because if they aren't, for whatever reason, then you have a system where "merit" is defined by the people already in the system, and who not unnaturally tend to define it in a way that pulls out folks just like themselves and it's a self-perpetuating situation.

 

The problem with the "free market" notion, is that when you have a monopoly controlled by 32 people hiring HC and then a second monopoly controlled by 32 HC hires who bring in their buddies as OC, DC, and assistants, there just isn't a lot of free market force at play.  Hopefully we can agree on that?

I noticed something interesting in @Nervous Guy 's post above listing coaches fired after 1 year.  Most of the guys fired after 1 year, were failed retreads like Chip Kelly, Mike Mularky, and Jim Mora who IMO shouldn't have been given a second (or nth) shot in the first place.  How do you feel that fits with the whole "free market" notion of hiring? 

[boyst]

2 minutes ago, blzrul said:

The NFL is about 70% black. If playing football makes one a good coach, then one could reasonably expect over time that the majority of NFL coaches would rise from those ranks.  Thus there would be a great many more black coaches than there are today.

 

Now - should an incompetent coach be retained to maintain racial parity? Hell no. But the definition of incompetence should apply EQUALLY to white and black.  This doesn't mean to set a standard within the NFL. Every team owner/GM is in a unique situation.  And some guys, black or white, shouldn't be HC. But I'm pretty sure the bar is much higher for people of color - because that's the way it is elsewhere, not just the NFL. 

 

I don't have the answer.  But dismissing this out of hand smacks of white privilege.  Walk a mile in someone else's shoes before you presume to tell people how they should feel.  

To even attempt to make an argument of your post I suggest:

A breakdown of coaches who played in the NFL by race.  I think Harbaugh, Rivera, Vrabel, mularky, Reich, Garrett, Lynn.

 

That's 8 coaches of teams that played as best I can guess of memory, 1 is black.  8/32 is 1/6 of the league. Of those 1/8 is a minority.  1/8. That's 12.5% of former players are coaching. But, 99% of statistics can be shaped to show anything. 

 

To begin projecting the bar is higher for certain groups is reckless and irresponsible is the only real point to be made.

Edited January 1, 2019 by Boyst62

[Trogdor]

11 minutes ago, PlayoffsPlease said:

What you are really saying is that some sort of racism is resulting in whites, hispanics and asians being under represented as players.  Without racism, it is impossible that that one race would be so over represented versus the general population.  The league should take immediate action to change this imbalance.  At the same time it needs to address the absurd sexism problem. Until 50% of coaches and players are women, it is clear that there is a huge huge problem. 


or maybe in a league where winning is everything teams just get the people they think are the most talented players and coaches. 

Riiiiigggght. So the abundance of talent in Black and Polynesian players somehow equates to the underrepresentation of coaches. Man I just can't believe Art Shell was the first viable black coaching candidate. 

[JoPar_v2]

2 minutes ago, BringBackOrton said:

Your second sentence is an ABSURD assumption. Most good coaches started early COACHING. 

 

Walk a mile in reality before telling people what shoes to wear.

 

If that’s the case why are there so many former pro players (of every color) coaching in the league? I mean, if MOST good ones started out exclusively coaching? I see several white players, like Vrabel and Reich for instance, getting hired and seeing success. There’s some reality for you. 

[blzrul]

Just now, BringBackOrton said:

Your second sentence is an ABSURD assumption. Most good coaches started early COACHING. 

 

Walk a mile in reality before telling people what shoes to wear.

Get thee to a dictionary and look up the conditional word "IF" which is the word I used.  IF / THEN.  You don't program, do you? 

 

I think there are a number of coaches that played football.  Maybe not all NFL. You can look that up since it seems important to you that all those black guys playing can't be coaches. 

 

If you want to wear ballet shoes that's fine with me.  If you want to keep a closed mind, it only hurts you. Not me. 

[Hapless Bills Fan]

25 minutes ago, SinceThe70s said:

Totally agree. 

The debate over whether there's a hiring issue has more legs. Bringing up firings cheapens that debate IMO. 

 

Fair enough. 

 

The one firing that IMO raises the eyebrows is Wilks, and IMO mostly because Keim who arguably FU the player personnel and his "extreme DUI" are still there.

[whatdrought]

1 minute ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

As I said above (and trying to keep it focused on football, or at least having a tie in to football), I view the Rooney Rule as too little too late, just like other forms of affirmative action.

It goes way back - are black players who have an interest in coaching getting encouragement to develop whatever extra skills they need?  Are they being evaluated evenly?  Offered equal mentoring?  When they are assistants, are they seen as equally capable, and helped to build whatever ancillary skills they need in an equitable way?  Because if they aren't, for whatever reason, then you have a system where "merit" is defined by the people already in the system, and who not unnaturally tend to define it in a way that pulls out folks just like themselves and it's a self-perpetuating situation.

 

The problem with the "free market" notion, is that when you have a monopoly controlled by 32 people hiring HC and then a second monopoly controlled by 32 HC hires who bring in their buddies as OC, DC, and assistants, there just isn't a lot of free market force at play.  Hopefully we can agree on that?

I noticed something interesting in @Nervous Guy 's post above listing coaches fired after 1 year.  Most of the guys fired after 1 year, were failed retreads like Chip Kelly, Mike Mularky, and Jim Mora who IMO shouldn't have been given a second (or nth) shot in the first place.  How do you feel that fits with the whole "free market" notion of hiring? 

 

I think the breakdown is that people (like Burleson) want to use the end resault to prove the issues. Instead of addressing those peripheral issues (which do need to be addressed where they exist) there are people who hold up Vance Joseph as an example of a racist coaching system. 

 

Im absolutely fine with condemning institutional racism where it exists, but I don’t see it in the examples that drove this thread. 

 

As to your question- same way I feel about guys like Andy Reid and Bill Belichick being given second chances. It can end well, or poorly. Those teams suffered for their poor choices and most of them are still suffering.

 

 

Just now, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

Fair enough. 

 

The one firing that IMO raises the eyebrows is Wilks, and IMO mostly because Keim who arguably FU the player personnel and his "extreme DUI" are still there.

 

Meh, Wilkes is questionable but he definitely didn’t do anything to inspire.  I find it hard to argue racism there because the same people that hired him last year are firing him this year and going through the headache of hiring a new coach. Just a bad hire, or so it would seem. 

[Beast]

3 minutes ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

As I said above (and trying to keep it focused on football, or at least having a tie in to football), I view the Rooney Rule as too little too late, just like other forms of affirmative action.

It goes way back - are black players who have an interest in coaching getting encouragement to develop whatever extra skills they need?  Are they being evaluated evenly?  Offered equal mentoring?  When they are assistants, are they seen as equally capable, and helped to build whatever ancillary skills they need in an equitable way?  Because if they aren't, for whatever reason, then you have a system where "merit" is defined by the people already in the system, and who not unnaturally tend to define it in a way that pulls out folks just like themselves and it's a self-perpetuating situation.

 

The problem with the "free market" notion, is that when you have a monopoly controlled by 32 people hiring HC and then a second monopoly controlled by 32 HC hires who bring in their buddies as OC, DC, and assistants, there just isn't a lot of free market force at play.  Hopefully we can agree on that?

I noticed something interesting in @Nervous Guy 's post above listing coaches fired after 1 year.  Most of the guys fired after 1 year, were failed retreads like Chip Kelly, Mike Mularky, and Jim Mora who IMO shouldn't have been given a second (or nth) shot in the first place.  How do you feel that fits with the whole "free market" notion of hiring? 

 

Malarkey actually did deserve a second chance. He had one of only two winning seasons in Buffalo this century.

 

Chip Kelly had success in Philly. He was 26-21 there before going to SF.

 

Mora also had a winning record in Atlanta.

 

I’m not sure that any of those three, at the time they went to their second team, should have been considered “failed retreads”.

[Straight Hucklebuck]

Rex got fired after 2 seasons here.

 

Rob Chudzinsky got fired after 1 season in Cleveland. 

 

Josh McDaniels lasted less than two years in Denver. 

 

Jim Tomsula got one year with the 49ers

 

Cam Cameron got one year with the Dolphins. 

 

 

Sorry Nate you have no case. 

[sullim4]

1 hour ago, Nervous Guy said:

I can probably come up with a mile long list of non-minority coaches given the same treatment.

 

Bingo.  I think the expectations were higher in Arizona after drafting Rosen.  The Bidwell family also doesn't have a sterling reputation as being great NFL owners, either.

[formerlyofCtown]

1 hour ago, SoTier said:

 

Why does he "need to STFU"?   IMO, you should follow your own advice.   As a former NFL player and now as a media professional who works in the media in close contact with current NFL players and other pro football professionals, Burleson is in a much better position to have a valid opinion on the role of race in how coaches/execs are evaluated/hired/fired than some bigoted message board nazi who thinks refusing to discuss race matters will make them disappear. 

Except that its over blown and disingenuous.  Interesting that Im a Nazi though.  And ironically you make it about race.  I guess I must be a racist homophob huh.  I will have to let my boyfriend know this he is black.  Oh and by the way he agrees.

[thenorthremembers]

These conversations are getting so tiresome.  Ironic considering the I Have a Dream speech was about character over skin color and everything goes back to skin color.

 

Is saying we need less white coaches any less racist?  

 

 

[sullim4]

29 minutes ago, C.Biscuit97 said:

Sean McDermott is basically Todd Bowles in a city with low self esteem. 

 

It's funny you mention this.  Bowles is the only head coach I've ever seen that says almost nothing on the sidelines.  Every time the camera is on him, he is just standing there, emotionless, saying nothing.

 

Say what you want about McDermott, I think the clapping thing is stupid, but at least the guy shows some emotion on the sidelines.  Bowles looks like he's watching an opera.

 

Maybe it's similar to Ralph's reasoning about Wade and his headset... but Bowles behavior makes him look disengaged on game days.

[Trogdor]

6 minutes ago, Binghamton Beast said:

 

Malarkey actually did deserve a second chance. He had one of only two winning seasons in Buffalo this century.

 

Chip Kelly had success in Philly. He was 26-21 there before going to SF.

 

Mora also had a winning record in Atlanta.

 

I’m not sure that any of those three, at the time they went to their second team, should have been considered “failed retreads”.

Malarkey went 9-7 then 5-11, that's why he was fired. He then had two 2 win seasons with the Jags and was actually rehired in between those. Chip Kelly started well in Philly and then flatlined.  I'm not sure what the issue with Mora was. 

[BringBackOrton]

17 minutes ago, JoPar_v2 said:

 

If that’s the case why are there so many former pro players (of every color) coaching in the league? I mean, if MOST good ones started out exclusively coaching? I see several white players, like Vrabel and Reich for instance, getting hired and seeing success. There’s some reality for you. 

Here are the best HC's in the NFL right now in career W-L.

 

McVay - Zero years NFL experience, coaching out of college

Nagy -  Zero years NFL experience, coaching out of college

Andy Reid - Zero years NFL experience, coaching out of college

Mike Tomlin - Zero years NFL experience, coaching out of college

Lynn - 6 years of NFL experience (as a backup journeyman)

Carroll - Zero years NFL experience, coaching out of college

Reich - 13 years of NFL experience (as a backup journeyman)

Payton - Strike player for 3 games in the NFL, coached the next year

 

See a trend?

16 minutes ago, blzrul said:

Get thee to a dictionary and look up the conditional word "IF" which is the word I used.  IF / THEN.  You don't program, do you? 

 

I think there are a number of coaches that played football.  Maybe not all NFL. You can look that up since it seems important to you that all those black guys playing can't be coaches. 

 

If you want to wear ballet shoes that's fine with me.  If you want to keep a closed mind, it only hurts you. Not me. 

English language lesson time.

23 minutes ago, blzrul said:

The NFL is about 70% black. If playing football makes one a good coach, then one could reasonably expect over time that the majority of NFL coaches would rise from those ranks.  Thus there would be a great many more black coaches than there are today.

The "those ranks" remark refers to the NFL in the previous sentence.  Not "football." 

 

I reject your assertion now that you changed it to football.  I reject your new assertion that 70% of kids who play football at any age are black.  I reject that NFL experience is associated with success as an NFL coach as proven by the best coaches in NFL history.

 

Sorry.

Edited January 1, 2019 by BringBackOrton

[formerlyofCtown]

20 minutes ago, blzrul said:

The NFL is about 70% black. If playing football makes one a good coach, then one could reasonably expect over time that the majority of NFL coaches would rise from those ranks.  Thus there would be a great many more black coaches than there are today.

 

Now - should an incompetent coach be retained to maintain racial parity? Hell no. But the definition of incompetence should apply EQUALLY to white and black.  This doesn't mean to set a standard within the NFL. Every team owner/GM is in a unique situation.  And some guys, black or white, shouldn't be HC. But I'm pretty sure the bar is much higher for people of color - because that's the way it is elsewhere, not just the NFL. 

 

I don't have the answer.  But dismissing this out of hand smacks of white privilege.  Walk a mile in someone else's shoes before you presume to tell people how they should feel.  

Its an intimidation tactic to try and force them to hire based on race or to be scared to fire because the coach is a minority.  Its sick because they do exactly what they say they are fighting against.  They are very disingenuous individuals.  

[klos63]

26 minutes ago, whatdrought said:

 

Assuming people’s color based on their opinions?

 

hm... I wonder if there’s a word for that. 

I believe the word is 'assuming'

[Beast]

5 minutes ago, Trogdor said:

Malarkey went 9-7 then 5-11, that's why he was fired. He then had two 2 win seasons with the Jags and was actually rehired in between those. Chip Kelly started well in Philly and then flatlined.  I'm not sure what the issue with Mora was. 

 

Mularkey wasn’t fired.

 

 

 

Edited January 1, 2019 by Binghamton Beast

[formerlyofCtown]

1 hour ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

Well, see, here's the challenging thing and I'll say it once and then STFU and ya'll can go on and run with it.

 

Everyone has their preconceptions.  Everyone tends to be most comfortable with people who fit their preconceptions, people who strike them as "someone like me".

 

Having been in a position to interview and to make decisions about hiring people, and having seen decisions above me being made, I can say that overt discrimination "I don't think she can do the job because, woman" or "I don't think he can handle it, because, black" is very rare nowadays.

 

What happens is that guys in hiring positions have their ideas, maybe unstated or unspoken ideas about what different people are like, maybe based on their own narrow experience.  One guy, a senior VP at my place of employment at the time, once told me he was very surprised to see the results of a study that said the women on average tested higher on organizational skills and ability to multitask because his wife couldn't manage either.  His perception (maybe unstated to himself) was that men are better at those skills.   Just naturally and without any intent at conscious bias, he was going to carry that perception into his hiring and assignment processes. 

The Rooney rule, and other affirmative action strategies, exist not because minorities can't win the job on their own merit, but because in an "old boys club" atmosphere, they will NOT be "gift wrapped interviews" and given the opportunities that guys who fit the preconceptions and comfort level of people doing the hiring.

 

I don't like them because I view it as too little, too late.  And if they result in people being hired, but not being given the same support and opportunities that others get, they're misguided.  But that's why they exist.

The only color they care about is green.

[klos63]

2 minutes ago, BringBackOrton said:

Sounds like something a black guy would say.

 

Don't worry, I'm just being "assuming."

sounds like something a ***** would say.

[dollars 2 donuts]

3 minutes ago, Binghamton Beast said:

 

Mularkey wasn’t fired.

 

 

 

 

 

Isnt it weird, BB...Milarky has been a head coach twice and technically was never fired from either job.

[MJS]

Well, there are coaches who are African American who have long tenures too, just like there are white coaches with short tenures.

 

I think Hue Jackson had more than enough time and they waited too long to fire him. Lewis in Cincy was one of the longest tenured coaches in the league before getting fired. We fired Rex Ryan after two years.

 

So I don't really see a problem personally. I think the larger problem is that some teams fire prematurely period, regardless of race. I just don't think that 1 or 2 years given to a coach is fair or realistic in most cases. The Browns fired a coach after 1 year a few years ago. The 49ers did it. Now Arizona did it. How on Earth can you give a coach only 1 year?

[Mat68]

Yet Lewis lasted 5 years longer than should.  Tomlin has had a top 3 roster for years and squandered it.  The hottest name is going to be Richard from Dallas.  I dont see it.  

[JoPar_v2]

12 minutes ago, BringBackOrton said:

Here are the best HC's in the NFL right now in career W-L.

 

McVay - Zero years NFL experience, coaching out of college

Andy Reid - Zero years NFL experience, coaching out of college

Mike Tomlin - Zero years NFL experience, coaching out of college

Lynn - 6 years of NFL experience (as a backup journeyman)

Carroll - Zero years NFL experience, coaching out of college

Reich - 13 years of NFL experience (as a backup journeyman)

Payton - Strike player for 3 games in the NFL, coached the next year

 

See a trend?

 

 

A trend? No I see no trend in the handful of names you cherry picked. A list of names that refutes your “point” as much as it supports it, by the way, since there are a mix of former player and non-player coaches on there. What I see is BS anecdotal evidence that proves nothing. Here, I can do it too: Doug Pederson (funny you left him out), Matt Nagy, Tony Dungy, Mike Ditka. 

 

Before you insult someone else’s comprehension of English, you should brush up on your basic logic and standards of evidence. People were in here discussing this fairly civilly and you bulldoze in and make it an insuffrable pi**ing match. It’s pathetic.

Edited January 1, 2019 by JoPar_v2

[formerlyofCtown]

2 hours ago, BillyWhiteShows said:

Others spoke about this issue as well.  It’s something to think about,  but please think before you respond.

 

 

 

 

Or maybe there are better canidates that can do the job better.  

[Patrick Duffy]

7 minutes ago, klos63 said:

sounds like something a ***** would say.

Oh my....

[SinceThe70s]

16 minutes ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

Fair enough. 

 

The one firing that IMO raises the eyebrows is Wilks, and IMO mostly because Keim who arguably FU the player personnel and his "extreme DUI" are still there.

 

Here's the thing for me. With the exception of Josh Rosen I've paid no attention to the Cardinals in the past year. Had no idea who Wilks was when he was hired. Didn't see the Cardinals play all year. When he got fired my assumption was "effed up organization". Had no idea the color of his skin until reading through parts of this thread. Is there any reason to think that race was a factor in his firing apart from his skin color? Why not go to Keim is clueless first?

[sullim4]

29 minutes ago, blzrul said:

The NFL is about 70% black. If playing football makes one a good coach, then one could reasonably expect over time that the majority of NFL coaches would rise from those ranks.  Thus there would be a great many more black coaches than there are today.

 

Taking the racial question out of it, that first assertion around playing football making you a good coach is interesting to explore.

 

If there's really something to CTE and cognitive capability, then one could easily argue that long, sustained playing careers make you a terrible candidate to be a head coach.  A ton of backup journeyman quarterbacks (Garrett, Reich, Pederson), and lots of careers that topped out in college before they could take a licking (Belichick, Tomlin, McVay).  Vrabel is the only person I can think of that had a somewhat lengthy, successful career as a starter in the NFL and is currently a head coach.

[klos63]

Just wondering if anyone going off on Burleson even watched his video. I hear nothing controversial at all.