Fritz Pollard Alliance defends Rooney Rule amid challenge from Florida AG

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The NFL's Rooney Rule has been in place since 2003, but it appears set to soon face a legal challenge.

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier announced on March 25 his office has sent a letter regarding the rule to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell ahead of the league's annual meeting.

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Uthmeier called for the suspension of the Rooney Rule in a video posted to social media, stating it violates Florida law by requiring "race-based considerations in hirings."

"Florida law is clear: hiring decisions cannot be based on race and the Rooney Rule mandates race-based interviews and incentivizes race-based decisions," Uthmeier said. "That's discrimination."

Uthmeier threatened "enforcement actions against the league for race-based discrimination" if the NFL does not comply with his request.

"NFL teams and their fans don't care about the race of the coaching staff," Uthmeier said. "They want a merit-based system that gives their team the best chance to win."

The NFL did not immediately respond to Uthmeier's announcement.

However, the Fritz Pollard Alliance – which "exists to advance inclusion and equitable access to leadership opportunities across the professional football ecosystem," according to its official website – defended the Rooney Rule in a statement.

"The Rooney Rule doesn’t limit opportunity; it expands it," Fritz Pollard Alliance interim executive director Michele C. Meyer-Shipp said in a statement to ProFootballTalk. "It doesn’t cap who a club can consider or dictate who gets hired and it’s not a hiring rule. What it does is increase fair competition and ensure a true merit-based process by opening the door beyond the traditional ‘tap on the shoulder’ system, so the best candidates from all backgrounds are actually seen, evaluated, and can compete."

The NFL's Annual League Meeting will take place from March 29 to April 1 in Phoenix, Arizona. Members of teams will vote on rule proposals, bylaws and resolutions ahead of the NFL draft in late April.

Here's more to know about the Rooney Rule's history and minority coaches within the NFL ecosystem.

What is the Rooney Rule?

The Rooney Rule was established in 2003 with the goal "to foster and provide opportunity to diverse leadership throughout the NFL." The rule specifically aims to increase the number of minority hirings for executive, general manager and head coach positions to enrich the game and create a "more effective, quality organization."

Per the rule, NFL franchises must interview at least two minority candidates in person for available general manager or head coach roles. These interviews can either be in-person or virtual. Teams must also interview at least two external minority candidates for coordinator roles. For senior-level positions such as executives or club president roles, at least one minority candidate must be interviewed.

In 2022, the Rooney Rule expanded to include women as minority candidates and the quarterbacks coach position as one that falls under the requirements.

The NFL added a reward for teams that developed minority talent who were hired away for general manager, head coach or personnel member jobs elsewhere. As of 2020, a team would receive a third-round compensatory NFL draft pick for two years if it lost a minority executive or coach to another team. That goes to three years if that team lost both a coach and a personnel member.

A recent example of this is the hiring of former Detroit Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn by the New York Jets as head coach. That move meant the Lions received an extra third-round pick in the 2025 and 2026 NFL Drafts.

NFL minority coaches hired in 2026

This offseason saw 10 coaching vacancies in the NFL — the most since 11 were available in 2000. Of those vacancies, only one went to a minority coach (Robert Saleh to Tennessee) and zero Black head coaches were hired in a cycle for the fifth time since the Rooney Rule was established.

In 2026, the NFL will have three Black head coaches out of 32 in a league in which roughly 70% of players are Black.

"I believe diversity is good for us," Goodell said during his annual State of the NFL press conference on Feb. 2. “You know me too well to say I’m resigned to something where I think we need to continue to make progress."

Goodell acknowledged that the league needs to re-evaluate its accelerator program designed to help minority candidates. The newly badged “Coach and Front Office Accelerator” program covers candidates from all backgrounds.

“I think the rule has been seen as a positive by our clubs by giving them an opportunity to look at a diverse set of candidates,” Goodell said. “They make the choice, ultimately, but I think it’s shown them the value of looking at talent where you might not know what you may not see. … Teams are trying to get the coach they think they can win with.”

This story will be updated with more information as it becomes available.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Florida AG threatens legal action against NFL for Rooney Rule

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