Posted: 8/6/03

Lions fined, but for what?

The Detroit Lions were fined $200,000 for hiring their new head coach Steve Mariucci back in January.

The reason the Lions were fined is because the NFL claims that they violated league rules for failing to interview a minority candidate for the head coaching position. This is a new rule the NFL put in place on December 20 of 2002. A rule that has not actually been formally voted on or approved.

Essentially, the Lions got fined for a rule that is being considered.
"I think it is a shame and totally unwarranted,'' Lions owner William Clay Ford said from his team's training camp. "I've lost a lot of respect for the commissioner because of the way he has handled this.î

The Lions made it clear that once Mariucci was released from the San Fransico 49ers, they wanted him.

If you were a coach, minority or not, and you knew a team had one person in mind and they were going to do all that they could to get him, would you want to interview for that job?
Probably not.

The five minority candidates that the Lions wanted to interview felt the same way apparently since they reportedly turned down the offer to be interviewed.

To accuse the Lions of unfair minority hiring is a slap in the face anyway. The Lions have 12 minorities in what the Lions consider top positions, including seven more in coaching, personnel, or training positions.

"I think we've got an excellent record,'' said Ford as he defended his team in an article on the Lions website. "We've got a record not because we're trying to satisfy anything (but) because we pick good people.

So basically, the NFL is saying the Lions need to do more so that they are up to their standards.

"He (NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue) has made a scapegoat out of the Detroit Lions, and I think the timing showed that. He waited six months, then nailed us on the eve of camp opening when attention would be on us," Ford said.

To look at this new rule for interviewing minority candidates for head coaching positions, you have to look at who spearheaded the effort, the Pittsburg Steelers. The Steelers are quite a diverse team themselves in the higher ranks right?

No.

The Steelers have a total of zero minorities in what can be considered top positions, and only three in assistant coaching positions.

Basically a team that has little diversity past its players came up with a new rule that requires it, and a team that could quite possibly be the most diverse in the coaching and top positions in the league is now being accused of discrimination.

I hope Iím not the only one who sees a problem with this. I understand the rule and the reason for it, but why should a team be penalized for wanting one specific coach because of his accomplishment and making that known?

Maybe the NFL needs to review this policy before they actually finalize it and agree upon it. Either way, the Lions got their coach and they are out $200,000.

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