The NFL, the league with no black owners, has had a problem with hiring non white coaching and executive candidate since its inception.

Nearly 75% of the players in the NFL African American.

But there are only four minority coaches and to general managers of color under the threat of a lawsuit from the late Johnnie Cochran and Institute of the Rooney Rule, which has been in perfect but more effective than expecting NFL teams to improve on their own.

This week, the league enacted a rule that will grant to third round compensatory draft picks, the teams who lose nonwhite assistant coaches and general managers to external promotion.

Theo NFL hopes this will incentivize teams to develop internal candidates, which presumably diversify the hiring pool.

The problem with this plan is obvious.

On its face.

It implies the reason teams don't hire nonwhite candidates is because they aren't properly trained, making them lesser candidates.

But the problem has never been with those candidates.

It's always been with the folks who do the hiring.

It is readily apparent the problem has always been racist.

That's something the NFL is understandably unwilling to say out loud, but something someone has to say.

If there's to be any progress, these carrots won't entice change.

So far on Lee, the stick has done that.

Accountability is what the NFL needs, and it's the thing it wishes to avoid.

The bottom line is NFL teams have to be bribed or threatened to fix its hiring problem.

Which tells me the only problem.

Team C is bad PR.

They don't care about meritocracy.

They don't care about making themselves better.

They don't want to be honest.

They just want to say they tried.

If only they actually wanted to try.

In a sea of NFL coaching and aptitude, Mike Tomlin has repeatedly delivered not only a Super Bowl championship but a swagger.

Not only an expectation of hard fought football, but also respect and stability.

The standard is the standard.

Ask any Steeler, and they'll tell you those five words sum up the essence of their coach.

Always direct, always no nonsense.

He's the father.

No player wants to disappoint The team staff for every member of the organization feels connected to even the cafeteria chefs, and he's the backbone of a team that's unbeaten heading into Week 10 each year.

Hot names and new darlings emerged in the coaching ranks, and all the while, Tomlin has remained steady, reliable and underappreciated.

He weathered the Antonio Brown and leave Ian Bell drama better than anyone realized.

Last season.

He lost his star quarterback, juggled a couple backups and still managed to get the Steelers to eight and eight.

And now, in 2020 they're off to their best start in franchise history.

Toman is only the second NFL head coach to start his career with 14 straight non losing seasons.

So yes, Pittsburgh, you are indeed lucky.

So give Mike Tomlin his flowers while he's still your head coach.

Let's judge sincerity, shall we?

I mean, it's almost certainly not what fans want us media types to do.

But let's go ahead and weigh in on that intangible.

Why?

Because new 76 year old White Sox manager Tony LaRussa wants us to constantly.

It's what he said several times during his press conference about two weeks back when asked about players showing emotions about boisterous team celebrations about peaceful protest during the anthem.

He's fine with them now, as long as it's all sincere.

Let's forget for the moment how insincere that sounded, given his very vocal opposition to them in the past.

Because, as LaRussa said in his press conference, I would look at actions.

Okay, then let's take a look at La Russa's actions from just eight months ago, According to a police report during a DUI arrest obtained by ESPN Zone Jeff Passan earlier this week, he attempted to convince the arresting officer not of his sobriety, but that his resume should set him free.

I'm a Hall of Famer baseball person, LaRussa said.

I'm legit.

Not exactly the actions of a leader.

Let's judge LaRussa sincerity When asked by ESPN on Monday to discuss the charge, I have nothing to say, he said.

Right.

That's probably because the White Sox have no intention of saying anything either until the matter has played out legally.

There are enough baseball reasons to question the LaRussa hiring, but using his own measure might be the most damning.

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