EAGAN, Minn. — Matt Daniels acknowledged feeling “just a tad bit” of butterflies when he sat down earlier this week for speed-dating-style meetings with NFL owners and executives as part of the league’s strategy for developing more diversity in the coaching ranks.
With just one season on his resume as Minnesota Vikings special teams coordinator, the 33-year-old Daniels could have been forgiven if he were daunted by the pressure of selling himself to these decision-makers in 30-minute time slots.
But all Daniels had to do was be his usual engaging and energetic self.
“What you realize is these billionaires and these high-influence major powers, they’re just normal people who enjoy and love football,” Daniels said.
The relative lack of minority-race coaches in prominent leadership roles, starting with the big stage of being a head coach, has been a long-running problem for the league and thus a more recent priority to address. Filling the pipelines with more diverse candidates has been one of the goals, including the creation of “accelerator” programs for front office and coaching jobs.
At the spring league meetings in Minnesota this week, a pool of 40 coaches participated in the latest edition. Sixteen of them took part in the inaugural event a year ago, after which eight coaches and three executives were hired in new roles, including Tennessee Titans general manager Ran Carthon.
The roster this week included veterans such as Leslie Frazier and Anthony Lynn, who’ve previously been head coaches and still aspire for the top job.
This is a 2019 photo of Charles London of the Chicago Bears NFL football team. This week, Titans pass game coordinator/quarterbacks coach Charles London — and other up-and-coming candidates like him — worked on increasing his opportunity too. Forty minority coaches participated in a series of league-sponsored sessions as part of an expanded accelerator program designed to boost diversity in the coaching ranks. Credit:…
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