NFL Must Double Down on Fighting Florida’s Rooney Rule Stance

Just before the 2026 Super Bowl, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell vowed to revisit and strengthen the league’s diversity efforts following efforts by the Trump administration to curb diversity, equity, and inclusion in employment practices.

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier has other ideas, having sent Goodell a letter last week alleging that the NFL’s Rooney Rule and other diversity programs violate the Florida Civil Rights Act.

But Uthmeier is out of his league, and the NFL should let him know it.

Florida’s First Down

Florida’s Civil Rights Act, like that of almost all states, says employers can’t “fail or refuse to hire any individual” or “limit, segregate, or classify employees or applicants for employment in any way which would deprive or tend to deprive any individual of employment opportunities.”

It also prohibits “discriminat[ing] against any individual with respect to compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment, because of such individual’s race, color, religion, sex, pregnancy, national origin, age, handicap, or marital status.”

The NFL’s primary Rooney Rule doesn’t require teams to hire racial minorities, nor does it say that a hiring decision should include a protected characteristic as a criteria for consideration—a practice the US Supreme Court invalidated for college admissions in 2023.

Instead, it aims to increase the candidate pool to people who might not otherwise be included. The league’s approach is consistent with the Mansfield Rule, a concept that requires three out of 10 candidates for a position be from underrepresented groups.

The NFL does have one policy, however, that looks like a quota—it requires “that all teams must employ a female or minority coach as an offensive assistant.”

A Legal Football

Florida’s position isn’t new. America First Legal, an organization directed by former staffers of the first Trump administration, in 2024 wrote a letter to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission arguing that the Rooney Rule discriminated against white males.

Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores has taken the opposite position. For more than four years, he has been leading a putative class action lawsuit against the NFL and various clubs alleging that their hiring practices unlawfully discriminate against Black coaches.

Flores recently prevailed in a lengthy effort to have his claims heard in federal court rather than in arbitration.

NFL’s Diversity History

The NFL’s Rooney Rule, an effort to add racial and gender diversity to teams’ coaching and leadership ranks, has had mixed success since its 2003 enactment.

At its peak, entering the 2024 season, nine head coaches were people of color. However, of the 10 vacancies filled during or after the 2025 season, none were by Black coaches, and only one was a racial minority.

By several estimates, two-thirds of NFL players are Black, a number that hasn’t materially changed for decades. However, the coaching ranks have never reflected the demographics of the player population.

The NFL instituted the Rooney Rule to address this disparity. It now requires clubs to interview two minority candidates for the positions of head coach, general manager and coordinator positions and one minority candidate for quarterback coach and senior executive positions.

NFL Has Possession

Utheimer requested that the NFL “confirm no later than May 1, 2026, that the NFL will no longer enforce the Rooney Rule or any variation or extension thereof—which requires consideration of race, sex, or any other prohibited classification—on teams in Florida.” He then threatened that failure to confirm this may prompt a civil rights enforcement action.

Jeremi Duru, a leading academic on the Rooney Rule who is on the board of the Fritz Pollard Alliance, a nonprofit organization that champions diversity and inclusion in NFL leadership positions, said in a 2025 law review article that no such claim is viable under Title VII, the analogous federal law prohibiting discrimination in employment.

“The Rule does not bear on any employer’s decision to ‘hire,’ or ‘discharge,’ and does not bear on ‘compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment,’” he noted. And while the Rooney Rule stipulates “at least two people of color be interviewed for particular positions,” he added, “it does not deprive any individual of the opportunity to interview.”

Florida’s claims may have some legal merit, but that is beside the point. The NFL is a national, bipartisan cultural juggernaut whose annual revenue is on track to exceed $25 billion by next year and can easily absorb whatever civil penalties Florida might throw its way.

The NFL may thank Florida for taking its current position. Last year, Goodell said the NFL wouldn’t abandon the Rooney Rule even after President Donald Trump issued executive orders intended to curtail diversity, equity, and inclusion programs.

The league now can put that position to the test and send a strong and durable message about its commitment to diversity. A failure to do so would likely prompt at least some backlash from players, fans, and sponsors.

If Florida obtains an injunction against the Rooney Rule in the state (which is highly uncertain), the NFL can be proud to have put up a principled fight.

Such an injunction may even help the NFL in the Flores case—as some of the relief sought in the case could be in conflict. Specifically, Flores has requested as relief in his action that the NFL be forced to implement a variety of processes and programs to diversify the coaching, personnel, and ownership ranks in the NFL.

The NFL’s approach to law and business has been assertive, to put it mildly, for much of the past six decades. There’s no reason for it to stop now.

This article does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Bloomberg Industry Group, Inc., the publisher of Bloomberg Law, Bloomberg Tax, and Bloomberg Government, or its owners.

Author Information

Chris Deubert is senior counsel with Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete, specializing in labor and employment, sports, and data privacy.

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