Who was the first African-American NFL Head Coach?

The NFL is made up of primarily African-American players, comprising around 70% of NFL teams in 2021 (according to Statista.com). Players like Bobby Marshall and Kenny Washington helped break the walls down and desegregate the league, but the same cannot be said about its coaches. Around 30% of assistant coaches are African-American with less than 10% of head coaches. The first African-American head coach was Fritz Pollard, back in 1921 with the Akron Pros.

Fritz Pollard was the only African-American NFL head coach from 1925 to 1989

Pollard was a pioneer at Brown University, winning over his teammates with his superb athleticism. He became the first African-American to play in the Rose Bowl and then played with the Akron Pros, winning the first league championship. In 1923, with the Hammond Pros, he became the first African-American quarterback in the league. He was the head coach for the Akron Pros in 1921 and then the Hammond Pros in 1925.

Sadly, Pollard gets little recognition as the first African-American head coach in the NFL, since the league was far more disorderly. Since 1925, there have been zero African-American head coaches in the league. Art Shell broke that streak in 1989 with the Los Angeles Raiders. After playing for the Raiders for 15 years as an offensive tackle, Shell became the second African-American head coach and the first in the modern sports era, making them the last of the major sports leagues to do so.

Since Shell's seven years of coaching in two separate stints with the Raiders, there have been just over 20 African-American head coaches in the league. Currently, there is one, Mike Tomlin, one of the most prolific African-American head coaches. He's the youngest to win a Super Bowl, has never had a losing season in 15 years, and has appeared in two total Super Bowls.

Ups and Downs of NFL trying to diversify

The NFL has been working behind the scenes to encourage diversity in the coaching ranks, implementing the "Rooney Rule". This requires teams to interview at least two ethnic-minority outside candidates for head coaching positions and senior operation jobs, such as GM and VP.

Compounding the issue, former Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores is now suing the league for allegations of racist and discriminatory hiring practices. He claims the Dolphins offered him $100,000 for every game he tanked during the season and that the team's success was hurting their draft plans.

Flores was surprisingly fired after the 2021 season and we may know why now. It's 2022 and there is no reason for the league to have just one African-American head coach in their ranks.