The NFL ended a mandate that required all 32 teams to hire a minority coach as an offensive assistant ahead of the 2025 season, and the league says the move was not prompted solely by recent pressure from Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier, per the report.
Uthmeier issued an investigative subpoena to the league and told reporters the NFL had revised diversity language on its website and had effectively backed away from some hiring requirements. The attorney general’s office also claimed credit for the league discontinuing the program and said the changes raise questions about compliance with Florida law, according to the report.
ESPN learned the league ended the hiring mandate this past winter. A letter referenced in reporting noted the NFL now contends the mandate has been “sunset,” and Uthmeier’s office said it remained skeptical because of the league’s history of discrimination, per the report.
Jonathan Beane, the NFL’s senior vice president for league leadership and inclusion, pushed back on characterizing the program as ended in a March interview, saying that league funding for the hires was never intended to be permanent. Beane told ESPN the program still exists but is no longer mandatory for clubs and is not reimbursed by the league office, and he suggested it may now function as an organizational best practice rather than a requirement, the report says.
The initiative began in 2022 after former coach Brian Flores sued the league and mirrored a proposed change in that suit to increase the pipeline for Black coaches. At its start, the NFL required each club to hire a minority offensive assistant and reimbursed half of the coach’s salary from a leaguewide fund; the resolution called for regular and direct contact between that assistant and offensive staff and participation in offensive game planning, per the report.
League officials said all 32 clubs complied with the mandate but acknowledged the role varied across teams. Pittsburgh Steelers owner Art Rooney II told ESPN the program succeeded in some areas and not in others. Former assistant Kenneth “K.J.” Black — who entered the NFL through the hiring mandate and later moved to Atlanta — described the league’s decision to discontinue the requirement as confusing and disappointing to him, according to the report.
