Legislator Wants to Force Oregon Schools To Interview Minority Coaches

A member of the Oregon legislature plans to introduce a bill that would require the state's public universities, including Oregon and Oregon State, to interview at least one minority before hiring a head football coach.

The law would be modeled on the NFL's "Rooney Rule," which has been in place for six years and has coincided with an increase in African-American head coaches in the NFL.

The Oregonian reports:

Rep. Mitch Greenlick, D-Portland, drafted the measure at the behest of constituent Sam Sachs, a former college football player and minority-rights activist.

"It seems to me it only makes sense," Greenlick said. "Because (the Rooney Rule) has had an effect and because I don't think minority coaches have been given a fair shake in Oregon, certainly in football."

There's nothing that exposes the hypocrisy of American universities' alleged commitment to "diversity" quite like the fact that only one BCS school, Miami, has a black head coach. I'm all for Rep. Greenlick exposing that hypocrisy by pointing out that schools won't even interview -- let alone hire -- minorities unless they're forced to by law.

But I do have some reservations about this law. For one, it has a fairly significant loophole, in that it still allows schools to bypass the requirement to interview a minority if they have a contract in place with a white coach, as Oregon does with offensive coordinator Chip Kelly, who is guaranteed to become the head coach when Mike Bellotti leaves.

And I also question whether, as long as the Legislature is taking up such measures, it really makes sense to single out football coaching as the one profession where diversity in interviewing must be dictated by law. Why not make the law apply to searches for college deans and chancellors and presidents, too?

That said, this sounds like worthwhile legislation that Greenlick is introducing, and legislation that other states would be wise to emulate.