Top DC prosecutor, who promoted false 2020 voter fraud claims, forms 'election accountability' unit
Trump is using the Alien Enemies Act to deport immigrants – but the 18th-century law has been invoked only during times of war
Texas midwife accused by state's attorney general of providing illegal abortions
Gabbard says Trump and Putin are 'very good friends' focused on strengthening ties
Pope registers new slight improvements in pneumonia fight as Vatican gives details on hospital photo
What we know about the El Salvador ‘mega prison’ where Trump is sending alleged Venezuelan gang members
US House committee seeks record on Chinese telecom hacking
Alphabet back in deal to buy cybersecurity startup Wiz for $30 billion, WSJ reports
US releases $57 million in financing to help reopen Michigan reactor
Coco Gauff heads home to the Miami Open after her 21st birthday and a bit of a rough patch
Some of the WNBA's rising stars have shined during Unrivaled's inaugural season
Shohei Ohtani merchandise is prompting long lines -- even in the rain -- in Tokyo
Eric Bieniemy, for example, shared two Super Bowl championships as offensive coordinator with the Kansas City Chiefs in 2019 and 2022. Given his experience, he was widely expected by NFL analysts to earn a head coaching job.
In order to pursue that goal, Bieniemy left the Chiefs in 2023 to join the Washington Commanders and was a favorite to become the team’s next head coach. But the Commanders were sold at the end of the 2023 season, and the new owners promptly fired him.
Bieniemy is back in the NFL after being hired in February 2025 by the Chicago Bears as their running backs coach, a lower rank than his prior position as offensive coordinator.
The benefit of the doubt
In 2020, the NFL expressed its support for the Black Lives Matter movement by promoting social justice messages on end zones and players’ helmets. The NFL also hired Roc Nation, Hip-Hop mogul Jay-Z’s company, to manage its music and entertainment.
A year later, the NFL formally ended their decades-long practice of race norming in which the league routinely gave Black players lower baseline cognitive ratings than white players in legal actions related to concussions and subsequent dementia.
But those measures, much like the Rooney Rule, have not closed the racial disparities among NFL head coaches and have not stopped white coaches from appearing to be more likely to receive the benefit of the doubt.
The NFL used goal post pads in 2022 to proclaim the league’s efforts to end racism.
Still unresolved is a 2022 lawsuit filed by Black head coach Brian Flores. Despite posting two winning seasons during his three-year tenure, he was fired by the Miami Dolphins. Flores filed a suit against the NFL, the Miami Dolphins and two other NFL teams alleging widespread racial discrimination and hiring practices.
During an interview with reporters before the 2025 Super Bowl, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell defended the league’s diversity initiatives, saying, “We’ve proven to ourselves that it does make the NFL better.”
Goodell was quick to point out that the NFL’s diversity efforts do not mean a “quota system” in which a certain number of candidates of each race are hired.
“There’s no requirement to hire a particular individual on the basis of race or gender,” Goodell said. “This is about opening that funnel and bringing the best talent into the NFL.”
Joseph N. Cooper does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Source: The Conversation
