5 NFL teams that have never hired a Black permanent head coach feat. Cowboys and Commanders
Some NFL teams have never hired a permanent Black head coach. The league's diversity issue has come front and center recently, with the disparity in coaches looming large. The Rooney Rule exists to solve this problem, but teams often find ways around it as the league continues to try and tweak it.
Even now, when diversity is supposed to be much higher than it used to be, there are only six non-white head coaches. Three are Black, and they are Mike Tomlin, Todd Bowles and DeMeco Ryans.
Incredibly, or perhaps not so incredibly, nearly half of the NFL teams have never had a black non-interim head coach: Bills, Patriots, Ravens, Titans, Jaguars, Cowboys, Commanders, Giants, Saints, Falcons, Panthers, Rams, Seahawks.
While at some point or another most teams have had a Black coach, some have inexplicably managed to not hire one throughout their entire history. Here's which teams have failed on that front.
NFL teams without a single Black head coach in history
5) Dallas Cowboys
The Dallas Cowboys have not yet had a Black head coach. Despite being one of the NFL's most prominent and longstanding teams, they remain on this list. They opted to hire Mike McCarthy after he was fired from the Green Bay Packers most recently.
4) Washington Commanders
The Washington Commanders have not had a Black head coach, but they do get a little bit of credit. They have one of the six non-white head coaches in the NFL. Ron Rivera is their current head coach. They also hired Eric Bienemy, who should have been a head coach by now, who could end up taking over in the event of a Rivera firing.
3) Baltimore Ravens
The Baltimore Ravens have only had three coaches, and John Harbaugh has been their coach since 2008. Still, of the three, none have been Black. They were officially formed in the 1990s, after moving around and being the Cleveland Browns for a while.
With Harbaugh as coach, their position on this unfortunate list is unlikely to change. Harbaugh is widely regarded as one of the best coaches in the NFL.
2) New York Giants
The New York Giants were founded in 1925. While it would have been a big shock for them to have hired a Black head coach back then, they've had nearly 100 years to get off of this list and haven't. In 22 total franchise head coaches, none have been Black.
With the recent hire of Brian Daboll and his win as the NFL's Coach of the Year, that's not likely to change any time soon.
1) Carolina Panthers
The Carolina Panthers are perhaps the most frustrating entry on this list. They had a Black interim head coach in Steve Wilks last season. They also had a Black interim head coach when they fired Ron Rivera in 2019. Perry Fewell replaced him.
The most glaring misfire on this front comes with not naming Wilks the full-time head coach, though. They had a prime opportunity to get off of this list, but didn't take it.
The hiring of Frank Reich is probably a good one, though time will tell. Still, all the players loved Wilks and he took a barren roster and gave them playoff hope until Week 17. They could have gotten off this list and hired the guy the entire roster loved, but opted not to.