Occupational Mobility Patterns: A Case Study of Leadership and Access in the National Football League
- 1 DeVos Sport Business Management Program, College of Business Administration, University of Central Florida, Orlando, USA
- 2 DeVos Sport Business Management Program, College of Business Administration, University of Central Florida, Orlando, USA
Abstract
This short report provides an overview and analysis of data on coaching mobility patterns in the National Football League (NFL). Previous studies in this area have generally focused on the effectiveness of the Rooney Rule (for example, analyzing the hiring process and proposing new strategies to increase the number of non-White head coaches) and comparing the win/loss records of White and non-White head coaches (for example, determining whether non-White coaches are provided with a meaningful opportu nity to turn around a team with a losing record). This report focuses on whether Whites and non-Whites face systemic and socio-cultural access barriers after one or more stints as a head coach in the NFL. The findings of this study indicate that, historically, NFL teams have been reluctant to hire a non-White indi vidual for a head coach, offensive coordinator or defensive coordinator position after a non-White indi vidual has previously been fired or has resigned from a head coach position in the NFL.
- Acker, J. (2006). Class questions, feminist answers. New York: Routledge.
- Braddock, J. H., Smith, E., & Dawkins, M. (2012). Race and pathways to power in the National Football League. American Behavioral Scientist, 56, 711-727. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0002764211433802
- Brooks, D., & Althouse, R. (1993, 2000, 2007, 2013). Racism in college athletics: The African-American athlete’s experience. Morgantown, West Virginia: Fitness Information Technology.
- Cochran Jr., J., & Mehri, C. (2002). Black coaches in the NFL: Superior performance, inferior opportunities. Washington DC: Mehri & Skalet, PLLC.
- Davis, K., & Moore, W. E. (1945). Some principles of stratification. American Sociological Review, 10, 242-249. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/2085643
- Day, J. C., & McDonald, S. (2010). Not so fast my friend: Social capital and the race disparity in promotions among college football coaches. Sociological Spectrum: Mid-South Sociological Association, 30, 138-158. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02732170903495937
- Edwards, H. (1973). Sociology of sport. Homewood, IL: Dorsey Press.
- Greene, L. (2012). Head football coaches: Ending the discourse of privilege. Wake Forest Journal of Law & Policy, 2, 115-142.
- Kellogg Insight (2008). Transparent barriers. Evanston: Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.
- Lapchick, R. E. (1991). Five minutes to midnight: Race and sport in the 1990s. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield.
- Loy Jr., J. W. (1969). The study of sport and social mobility. In G. S. Kenyon (Ed.), Aspects of contemporary sport sociology (pp. 101-119). Madison, Wisconsin: Athletic Institute.
- Phillips, J. C. (1983). Race and career opportunities in Major League Baseball: 1960-1980. Journal of Sport and Social Issues, 7, 1-17. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/019372358300700201
- Proxmire, D. (2008). Coaching diversity: The rooney rule, its application and ideas for expansion. American Constitution Society for Law and Policy, 1-9.
- Rosette, A. S., Leonardelli, G. J., & Phillips, K. W. (2008). The white standard: Racial bias in leader categorization. Journal of Applied Psychology, 93, 758-777. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.93.4.758
- Sage, G., & Loy, J. (1978). Geographical mobility patterns of college coaches. Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, 7, 253-280. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/089124167800700208