Brian Daboll’s Firing Exposes the Bias Existing in Head Coach Hiring Discussions
On Monday afternoon, a day after another late-game collapse, the Giants fired head coach Brian Daboll, a move most expected would ultimately happen.
During Daboll’s four-year tenure in New York, the team went 20-40-1, which includes only one winning season in 2022 when the team, in his first season as head coach, went 9-7-1 and he won Coach of the Year.
But the team steadily went downhill afterwards, going 6-11, 3-14 and 2-8 this year after the ugly loss to Chicago on Sunday.
Immediately after the Giants parted ways with Daboll, names of potential replacements started circulating including UNC HC Bill Belichick, Chiefs DC Steve Spagnuolo, Chargers DC Jesse Minter, Mike McCarthy, Seahawks OC Klint Kubiak, Commanders OC Kliff Kingsbury, Seahawks OC Shane Waldron, Boston College HC Bill O’Brien, Broncos DC Vance Joseph and Vikings DC Brian Flores.
Most glaring, and frustrating, to see and hear is that only two Black candidates, Joseph and Flores, surfaced in those initial discussions, and their names were rarely mentioned on the talk shows since the Giants vacancy opened up.
I’m not saying the hosts discussing the potential hires are racists.
Instead, these discussions illustrate the biased thought and visualization process involved in the NFL head coaching hiring process.
Sadly, the same names and faces are regurgitated anytime an NFL head coaching position becomes available, a long-standing issue faced by the league.
It’s similar to the discussions centered on what a prototype NFL quarterback “looks like” and does and why someone like Jalen Hurts doesn’t get the respect that he deserves despite winning at the highest level.
Yes, there are valid reasons for these particular names to immediately come up.
It could be connections, such as the coaching tree of legendary Giants coach Bill Pacells (Belichick); former ties to the organization (Spagnuolo) or the consistent love organizations have for young, flashy offensive coordinators (Kubiak, Kingsbury).
Unfortunately, those characteristics mean the process reverts back to the same group, and look, of people.