Florida AG says NFL's Rooney Rule breaks state law: What to know
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier is pushing back on the NFL's longstanding policy regarding minority leadership opportunities.
In a video posted to social media on Wednesday afternoon, Uthmeier threatened "enforcement actions" against the league if it did not choose to suspend the Rooney Rule, which "aims to increase the number of minorities hired in head coach, general manager, and executive positions," according to the NFL's website.
The NFL did not immediately respond to ABC News' request for comment.
Read on for everything to know about the Rooney Rule and the Uthmeier's comments on the matter.
What is the Rooney Rule?
The NFL adopted the Rooney Rule in 2003 with the intention of increasing the number of minority head coaches in the NFL.
Named after the late Pittsburgh Steelers owner Dan Rooney, who was head of the league's Workplace Diversity Committee at the time, the rule requires "every team with a head coaching vacancy to interview at least one or more diverse candidates before making a new hire."
According to the league, through the years, the rule has expanded in scope, eventually including women in its minority definition and designating quarterback coaches, general manager roles, and executive jobs as applicable Rooney Rule positions.
"NFL teams are now required to interview at least two minority candidates for vacant head coach, GM and coordinator positions. One minority candidate is required for the QB coach position," the league states.
Why does the Florida AG say the Rooney Rule breaks state law?
In his video on Wednesday, Uthmeier said he planned to send a letter about the Rooney Rule to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell ahead of the league's annual meeting next week.
"The NFL's use of the Rooney Rule violates Florida law by requiring race-based considerations in hiring," Uthmeier said. "Florida law is clear: Hiring decisions cannot be based on race, and the Rooney Rule mandates race-based interviews and incentivizes race-based decisions."
Uthmeier continued, "That's discrimination. We're demanding the NFL suspend the Rooney Rule, and failure to do so may result in enforcement actions against the league for race-based discrimination."
Uthmeier concluded by saying fans and teams "don't care" about the race of their team's coaching staff and instead "want a merit-based system that gives their team the best chance to win."
What is the current state of diversity in NFL coaching?
The 2026 NFL season will begin with just three Black head coaches, in a league that is predominantly Black, according to ESPN. According to The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport, in 2023, 53.5% of the league's athletes were Black.
The total number of minority coaches in the NFL fluctuates from year to year, but the AP noted that as of 2024, nine teams had minority head coaches, though two years later, that number appears to be down to five total. None are women.
"This is not exactly a complex problem, but it also is not linear," ESPN columnist Clinton Yates said on ABC News last month. "A rule is not going to help you with what is effectively human nature, and when you look at how the different things develop, where guys come from, as in coaches, how they're looked at by their owners, and most specifically, how many opportunities they're given to fail before they get another chance, that's where a lot of things fall off the most."
