WhoDat

As I'm sure many of you already know, the Detroit Lions are coming under fire for the process they used in hiring Mooch. Many minority groups are criticizing the Lions for having not interviewed a black candidate before hiring Steve Mariucci. The Lions contend that they intived five black candidates to interview, but all declined. Most of the candidates say they declined because it was so obvious that the Lions wanted Mooch it wasn't even worth their time to interview.

Now, what I want to know is where people stand on this. Personally, I think the policy enacted by the league is generally good in that it looks to create a more equal plying field at the top amongst NFL teams. However, the policy will be detrimental if it is used even in these types of situations.

To me, the policy's value comes into play when there is no clear-cut person in mind for a job. Example - after the Saints fired Ditka. There was no one person who the Saints were in love with. In that type of situation you definitely want all possibilities examined closely. However, in this situation with the Lions, or the one in Dallas with Parcels, or Spurrier with the Redskins, etc. enforcing this rule seems stupid. You make a team find a guy who is willing to come in for an interview even though he knows he doesn't have any real shot at a job. It's dumb.

The situation in Jacksonville seems like a bigger deal to me. They hired a nobody. That's the kind of situation where you'd like to see on of those top minority coordinators get a shot. But in Detroit... there isn't a better AVAILABLE coach on the market than Mariucci, and he is the guy that Millen has had his eye on for almost three years now. Now they're talking about having to fine the Lions or even take away their first round draft pick. That's ridiculous.