The Indianapolis Colts recently made news by creating a program to promote diverse coaches in the National Football League by earning fellowships on the Colts’ coaching staff. The Colts named the Tony Dungy Diversity Fellowship after the head coach who led the team to victory in Super Bowl LXI, making him the first Black head coach to win a Super Bowl.
While the move by the Colts earned justified praise, it’s considered a first step in the right direction after years of controversy over how the NFL promotes — or more to the point doesn’t promote — Black head coaches.
The fellowship comes at a time when the NFL has three Black head coaches in a league of 32 teams where about 70% of players are Black. One of the three is Mike Tomlin, who has coached the Pittsburgh Steelers since 2007. The other two are new hires: Lovie Smith for the Houston Texans and Mike McDaniel, who identifies as biracial, for the Miami Dolphins.
