With the New England Patriots searching for their next Executive Vice President of Player Personnel, the Rooney Rule is becoming a hot topic once again.
The Patriots are reportedly set to name Eliot Wolf the new EVP of Player Personnel, but issues were raised when the Patriots reportedly hadn’t met the Rooney Rule requirements just yet, leading to some backlash towards the Patriots, while others raised questions on if the rule itself actually works.
Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer believes the Rooney Rule works. Appearing on 98.5 The Sports Hub in Boston Friday, Breer said that the best example of the Rooney Rule working is, ironically, Mike Tomlin.
“So the best example is the one that Fred [Toucher] brought up, which is [Mike] Tomlin. And if you go back to 2007, when they hired Mike Tomlin, they were obviously coming off of an incredibly successful run with Bill Cowher as their head coach,” Breer said highlighting Tomlin’s hiring as the best example of the Rooney Rule doing its job. “And so Bill Cowher steps away after the 2006 season and everyone — everyone — thought the job was going to one of two people, either Ken Whisenhunt, who was their offensive coordinator, or Russ Grimm, who was their offensive line coach slash assistant head coach.”
At the time, that certainly was the belief. But Breer’s commentary excludes one critical name that takes the air out of his point. Prior to Tomlin, Pittsburgh interviewed Chicago Bears’ defensive coordinator Ron Rivera. With parents from Puerto Rico and Mexico, Rivera satisfied the Rooney Rule requirement of a minority candidate. Tomlin wasn’t brought in for that reason. He came at the recommendation of John Wooten, Chairman of the Fritz Pollard Alliance, who passed along Tomlin’s name to the Rooney family.
Still, Breer’s other point was it appeared the team would make a seamless transition from Cowher to one of Whisenhunt or Grimm. With quarterback Ben Roethlisberger coming into his own as a potential franchise guy on offense and a veteran defense, the Steelers seemingly had a core in place to return to Super Bowl contention.
As is well know, it didn’t go that way.
“One of those two guys was getting the job, but they said, we’re opening it up and we’re going through a full and thorough process. And Mike Tomlin came in and blew them away,” Breer added. “And so they wind up hiring Mike Tomlin instead of Ken Whisenhunt or Russ Grimm. Both those guys wind up leaving. They go to Arizona.”
Tomlin emerged throughout the interview process, blew the Steelers away — as Breer said — and landed the job.
It worked out quite well for the Steelers and Tomlin as Pittsburgh won Super Bowl XLIII in Tomlin’s second season, and then appeared in a second Super Bowl a few years later, that being Super Bowl XLV against the Green Bay Packers. Interestingly enough, Tomlin went against Whisenhunt in Super Bowl XLIII as he was head coach of the Cardinals. It worked out for all parties involved, for the most part.
Tomlin remains the head coach 18 years later and is going to be a Pro Football Hall of Fame head coach when it is all said and done in his career. He has never had a losing season in his career to date, either, which is impressive regardless of what anyone else has to say negatively about it.
And he remains a shining beacon of light for the Rooney Rule that has seemingly lost its luster in the last decade or so.
The Patriots are now adhering to the rule though, and it has them looking at some former Steelers’ front office members in Brandon Hunt and Samir Suleiman. Maybe they can pull a Tomlin and blow the Patriots away, landing the job.
Check out Breer’s full appearance on 98.5 The Sports Hub below.
