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Shell: Minority coaches still in minority
Posted: Wednesday January 27, 1999 09:27 AM
MIAMI (CNN/SI) -- Nine head coaching jobs came and went this postseason, and Art Shell was hardly mentioned. The Falcons offensive line coach, a former head coach with the Los Angeles/Oakland Raiders, wants everyone in the league to know he's not too happy about it. "I have a very strong urge to be a head coach again," Shell said Tuesday, relaxing as much as he could in the dugout at Pro Player Stadium during Super Bowl Media Day. "Right now, I'm having fun doing what I'm doing. Coaching a position. But the idea of leading the whole thing ... I like." Shell, who is black, interviewed with the Cleveland Browns for their vacancy -- the NFL dictated that the expansion Browns were the only team allowed to interview coaches still involved in the playoffs -- and was briefly mentioned as a candidate for a few others. But nothing came of it, and last week the last head-coaching void was filled. That means Shell probably will be back in Atlanta next season regardless of what happens in Sunday's game. It also means the NFL continues its shameful record of hiring -- or not hiring -- minority head coaches. Of the 31 head coaches in the league, only three are minorities: Minnesota's Dennis Green, Tampa Bay's Tony Dungy and Green Bay's Ray Rhodes. The Packers broke a long string of the league not hiring any minority head coaches when they grabbed Rhodes after the Philadelphia Eagles fired him. To do it, they skipped over a minority on their own staff, the well-respected offensive coordinator Sherm Lewis.
Another high-profile minority, Raiders defensive coordinator Willie Shaw, also was left out. "I just think they need more opportunities for minorities to be head coaches," Shell said. "I don't begrudge any of the guys who got jobs. But for [minority candidates], just to go and talk is not enough." Raiders owner Al Davis has expressed regret that he fired Shell after the 1994 season, and Shell and Davis have since talked about the firing. But, at least for the foreseeable future, the kind words from Davis mean nothing to Shell as far as getting him what he wants -- to be one of the 31 head coaches in the NFL. Today's Obscure Statistic: According to the Falcons' public relations department, in the past three years, Atlanta defensive tackle Travis Hall leads all NFL interior linemen in tackles, with 279. San Francisco's Bryant Young is second with 244, while Arizona's Eric Swann is third with 218.5. A Sign the Super Bowl is Getting Out of Hand: A Miami independent television station, WAMI, had the most bizarre approach to Media Day on Tuesday, a pretty bizarre day by definition. A gimmick the station used to spice up the cliches and useless sound bites that normally characterize the day: Reporters brought along a game of "Operation." The game, if you'll recall, requires players to remove pieces of a mock "patient" -- a funnybone, an ankle -- with a pair of tweezers, without setting off a buzzer. Several Falcons were duped into the game. What did it prove? Nothing. Quote of the Day : "If you look at our guys, they still don't believe we're here. It's just a bunch of guys who don't know any better." -- Falcons wide receiver Terance Mathis.
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