NFL’s new accelerator program only accelerates a widening of the gap

“When you are accustomed to privilege, equality feels like oppression.”

During Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans last year, the NFL yielded to political pressure when it removed “End Racism” from the end zone and replaced it with the more vanilla “It Takes All of Us.”

The league took the action because of the presence of President Donald Trump, whose administration declared war on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. That was the first sign that the NFL, which under commissioner Roger Goodell developed robust DEI initiatives, would yield to the ongoing pressure to eliminate any programs that would level the racial playing field.

What I wondered at the time was what other concessions the league would make. The answer came Wednesday in the form of a league memo to teams announcing the reemergence of its ambitious accelerator program.

In an effort to undo the damage done to African Americans by decades of marginalizing and overlooking coaching and executive candidates, the NFL created the accelerator program in 2022. The intent was to increase the diversity in coaching and executive positions by introducing minority candidates to NFL team owners and executives. The program was paused last spring in order to make it “more effective.”

The real challenge was to move forward with diversity without appearing to give any advantage to African American candidates. Thus, the newly imagined accelerator program will be open to any aspiring head coach or general manager, regardless of race.

This is what the league has come up with: a colorblind program that fails to acknowledge that, in the NFL’s hiring practices, whiteness is already an accelerator.

The accelerator program was designed to level the playing field by fostering relationships between potential candidates and those who do the hiring — to make a dent in the old boys’ network in which team presidents, general managers and coaches hire friends, family members and cronies from their so-called “trees.” African Americans and women are often excluded from these networks. Among the 32 NFL teams, there are currently only three head coaches, four team presidents and four general managers who are African American.

The first accelerator program was held in Atlanta in 2022 during the league’s spring meetings. There was a diverse gathering of 60 aspiring head coaches and general managers who mingled with team presidents and owners. The idea was to introduce populations that rarely interacted.

In retrospect, this gathering was a well-meaning but naive initiative. It overlooked reality, failing to realize that people in hiring positions are going to fall back on candidates they know.

As New England Patriots president Jonathan Kraft said at last month’s Super Bowl: “I do think when it’s close, people go for safety. And safety has historically probably been people who are white and not Black. That’s where we have to break the logjam.”

This year, no African American head coaches were hired. The Atlanta Falcons hired Ian Cunningham as general manager.

According to the memo sent by the NFL to teams Wednesday, the new accelerator program “has been thoughtfully redesigned to provide a more personalized leadership development experience, with a focus on individual growth and long-term impact. The program now prioritizes senior-level talent and creates more meaningful opportunities to connect with club ownership and with one another. These connections are designed to strengthen relationships and build stronger bridges between coaching staffs and front offices.”

It continues: “Consistent with this evolution, the nomination criteria have been refined to focus on more senior-level candidates aligned with Head Coach and General Manager readiness. In addition to the in-person program at the Spring League Meeting, participants will engage in year-round learning opportunities, including mentorship, personalized executive coaching, and specialized development sessions addressing the realities and responsibilities of serving as a Head Coach or General Manager — all designed to complement the NFL football calendar.”

No mention of diversity. Not even a hint of it, even though the program was designed to open the possibility of people of color and women becoming part of a pipeline dominated for decades by white men.

In the current climate, any effort to increase those numbers puts white candidates at a disadvantage. This aligns with the narrative being pushed by the administration that white men are now the victims.

It doesn’t take much imagination to anticipate that the newly imagined accelerator program will bring about more of the same, but at least it will keep the White House off of the NFL’s back.

For now.

The reimagined accelerator program will avoid backlash by simply eliminating the requirement that teams must nominate minority candidates for the program. Granted, not every aspiring white coach or executive is privileged or connected. Many are, however.

Kraft made this point when he pointed out that the reason many white coaches have an advantage over their Black colleagues was because they were coached in high school by their fathers.

“Some of the young [white] coaches who come through our organization, disproportionately, their dad was their high school coach,” Kraft said. “I think those kids grew up around it in their homes, just watching what it was, even at the high school level.”

What really happens is that there is a robust network of white coaches who form relationships that begin in high school and extend through college and the NFL. Black coaches and women are rarely part of those networks.

A number of Black assistant NFL coaches have been able to make those connections and have been able to position themselves for advancement — which is why it’s so curious that under the reimagined accelerator program, only senior level coaches, like coordinators, will be nominated to attend.

Currently, in title, there are 12 defensive coordinators who are either Black or identify as biracial (Anthony Weaver, Baltimore; Ejiro Evero, Carolina; Christian Parker, Dallas; Vance Joseph, Denver; Kelvin Sheppard, Detroit; Brian Flores, Minnesota; Dennard Wilson, New York Giants; Patrick Graham, Pittsburgh; Raheem Morris, San Francisco; Aden Durde, Seattle; Todd Bowles, Tampa Bay; Daronte Jones, Washington) but only three offensive coordinators who identify as Black or biracial (Eric Bieniemy, Kansas City; Mike McDaniel, Los Angeles Chargers; and Nate Scheelhasse, Los Angeles Rams) in the NFL. Initiatives like the Rooney Rule and the original accelerator program were important.

When you have been locked out of the system for so long, it takes decades to catch up. The NFL’s original accelerator program was designed to speed up the process. The league’s newly imagined version will accelerate a widening gap.

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