The Fritz Pollard Alliance Foundation typically releases its list of recommended minority head coaching candidates in January. This year, we have an early preview of the list, courtesy of Tom Pelissero of USA Today. This year’s suggested candidates will include Lions defensive coordinator Teryl Austin, Bills offensive coordinator Anthony Lynn, Cardinals OC Harold Goodwin, and Vikings DC George Edwards.
Austin was a popular candidate for coaching vacancies last year but ultimately did not find a head coaching gig. After interviewing with the Browns, Dolphins, Giants, and Eagles, Austin indicated that he felt only two of the interviews were “legitimate” while the other two were only done to satisfy the Rooney Rule, which stipulates that a minority candidate must be interviewed for every job. Since the Browns hired a black coach in Hue Jackson, Austin presumably isn’t accusing Cleveland of interviewing him to fulfill the requirement.
The Bills installed Lynn as their OC in September after ousting Greg Roman. The Bills have been up-and-down this year, but they now stand at 6-6 despite injuries to key players. Lynn has had to run the Bills’ offense without star wide receiver Sammy Watkins for much of the year and teams will certainly take notice of his capable job despite the less-than-ideal circumstances.
Goodwin has made no secret of his desire to land a head coaching job. However, there are some factors working against him. First, the Cardinals offense has struggled this season. Secondly, despite rave reviews from those around him, Goodwin does not call the plays in Arizona, and that could deter interested teams.
Edwards was placed on the Pollard list for the first time last year and he returns this season. Like Goodwin, he does not call plays for his team despite the coordinator title. However, he comes with a strong recommendation from head coach Mike Zimmer and he did call the plays against the Cowboys when Zimmer was recovering from surgery. With Edwards at the wheel, the Vikings allowed just 17 points against one of the league’s most electric offenses.
The foundation also released a list of general manager candidates including Giants VP of player evaluation Marc Ross, Raiders director of player personnel Joey Clinkscales, former Lions GM and current Giants exec Martin Mayhew, and Eagles director of college scouting Trey Brown.
Austins going to get a HC job I bet money
Stay away from these guys with a 10 foot pole. Check Todd Bowles, Marv Lewis, Leslie Frazier.
Its probably best to note that when the Eagles had interviewed Teryl Austin, they had already interviewed Duce Staley weeks before. So Philly was already in compliance with the Rooney rule prior to interviewing Austin. If he’s accusing the Eagles of just using him for the Rooney rule, then maybe he’s not smart enough to be a head coach. My guess though, is that he’s not accusing Philly of being one of those two teams.
It was rumored that Miami really liked Austin, but there were other rumors that they had their hearts set on Gase from the outset.
I dont recall if Austin was Cleveland’s first minority interview or not. If he was, you can’t rule them out just because they later interviewed/hired Hue Jackson. If the Eagles had hired Austin, it could still be said that they had interviewed Duce just to satisfy the rule. Well, Cleveland could have done the same – gotten the rule out of the way, then circled back around to Hue.
The moral of the story is… clearly the Giants are racist.