{"id":212189,"date":"2026-03-30T21:23:21","date_gmt":"2026-03-30T21:23:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/212189\/"},"modified":"2026-03-30T21:23:21","modified_gmt":"2026-03-30T21:23:21","slug":"falcons-gm-ian-cunningham-says-work-to-be-done-in-nfl-minority-hiring-despite-florida-ag-pushback","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/212189\/","title":{"rendered":"Falcons GM Ian Cunningham says \u2018work to be done\u2019 in NFL minority hiring, despite Florida AG pushback"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\t\t\t\t\t\tFirst-year Atlanta Falcons general manager Ian Cunningham said he\u2019ll continue to push for more diversity in the NFL\u2019s leadership positions, even after Florida\u2019s attorney general wrote that the league\u2019s minority hiring guidelines violate Florida state law.Attorney General James Uthmeier sent a letter to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell saying the league\u2019s 23-year-old Rooney Rule amounts to \u201cblatant race and sex discrimination.\u201d\u201cJust from my position, especially being a Black man, there\u2019s still work to be done,\u201d Cunningham told The Associated Press on Monday at the NFL\u2019s league meetings. \u201cNow that I\u2019m in this position and have this platform, I\u2019m going to be intentional about what we do from a grassroots effort to a director level.\u201cI do think it\u2019s important to give people of all races and sexes a chance to be in a position to further their career.\u201dThe Rooney Rule requires teams to interview at least two minority candidates for head coach, general manager and coordinator positions. At least one minority candidate must be interviewed for the quarterbacks coach position.The 40-year-old Cunningham was hired as the Falcons general manger in January after four seasons as an assistant GM with the Chicago Bears. He\u2019s also spent time in the front office for the Baltimore Ravens and Philadelphia Eagles.Cunningham said he didn\u2019t have a comment on Uthmeier\u2019s specific concerns, saying he didn\u2019t have all the details.Your neighborhood: Local coverage from WPBF 25 NewsTampa Bay Buccaneers coach Todd Bowles \u2014 who is one of just three Black head coaches in the league \u2014 also said he needed more information before deciding if Uthmeier\u2019s complaint had any merit.\u201cThe political part of it, if he wants it out, and he has reasons why, I got to hear cases and all that,\u201d Bowles said. \u201cIf I were the judge sitting behind a bench, I would probably have more info right now what he thinks, but I don\u2019t.\u201dUthmeier asked Goodell to confirm by May 1 that the NFL was no longer enforcing the Rooney Rule in Florida, or the league could face civil rights action. There are three NFL teams in Florida \u2014 the Buccaneers, Miami Dolphins and Jacksonville Jaguars.\u201cNFL fans in Florida don\u2019t care what color their coach\u2019s skin is,\u201d the letter said. \u201cThey care what colors their coach is wearing \u2014 and that those colors are winning on the football field. The Rooney Rule and its offshoots are illegal in Florida.\u201dThe NFL will have only three head coaches and four general managers who are Black next season. There were 10 head coach openings this season and none of them were filled by a Black coach.Robert Saleh, who is of Lebanese descent, was the only minority to get a job during the most recent head coach hiring cycle when he was hired by Tennessee.This was just the fifth time since the start of the Rooney Rule in 2003 that no Black head coaches were hired during an offseason coaching cycle. The only other time it happened in a year with more than five changes was 2013, when there were eight openings.Get the latest news updates with the WPBF 25 News app. You can download it here.Goodell isn\u2019t scheduled to speak at the NFL\u2019s annual meetings until Tuesday, but said in February that increasing diversity is still one of the league\u2019s goals.\u201cWe need to continue to make progress,\u201d Goodell said. \u201cI believe that and I believe diversity is good for us. … I think we have to become a more diverse league across every platform, including coaching. But we still have more work to do.\u201d\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\tPHOENIX \u2014 \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

First-year Atlanta Falcons general manager Ian Cunningham said he\u2019ll continue to push for more diversity in the NFL\u2019s leadership positions, even after Florida\u2019s attorney general wrote that the league\u2019s minority hiring guidelines<\/a> violate Florida state law.<\/p>\n

Attorney General James Uthmeier sent a letter<\/a> to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell saying the league\u2019s 23-year-old Rooney Rule amounts to \u201cblatant race and sex discrimination.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cJust from my position, especially being a Black man, there\u2019s still work to be done,\u201d Cunningham told The Associated Press on Monday at the NFL\u2019s league meetings<\/a>. \u201cNow that I\u2019m in this position and have this platform, I\u2019m going to be intentional about what we do from a grassroots effort to a director level.<\/p>\n

\u201cI do think it\u2019s important to give people of all races and sexes a chance to be in a position to further their career.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Rooney Rule requires teams to interview at least two minority candidates for head coach, general manager and coordinator positions. At least one minority candidate must be interviewed for the quarterbacks coach position.<\/p>\n

The 40-year-old Cunningham was hired as the Falcons general manger in January after four seasons as an assistant GM with the Chicago Bears. He\u2019s also spent time in the front office for the Baltimore Ravens and Philadelphia Eagles.<\/p>\n

\t\t\"INDIANAPOLIS,<\/p>\n

\n\t\tGetty ImagesCooper Neill\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tINDIANAPOLIS, IN – FEBRUARY 24: Ian Cunningham of the Atlanta Falcons speaks during a press conference at the 2026 NFL Scouting Combine on February 24, 2026 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Cooper Neill\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Cunningham said he didn\u2019t have a comment on Uthmeier\u2019s specific concerns, saying he didn\u2019t have all the details.<\/p>\n

Your neighborhood: Local coverage from WPBF 25 News<\/a><\/p>\n

Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach Todd Bowles \u2014 who is one of just three Black head coaches in the league \u2014 also said he needed more information before deciding if Uthmeier\u2019s complaint had any merit.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe political part of it, if he wants it out, and he has reasons why, I got to hear cases and all that,\u201d Bowles said. \u201cIf I were the judge sitting behind a bench, I would probably have more info right now what he thinks, but I don\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\"MIAMI<\/p>\n

\n\t\tGetty ImagesIcon Sportswire\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMIAMI GARDENS, FL – DEC 28: Tampa Bay Buccaneers Head Coach Todd Bowles walks onto the field before the game between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Miami Dolphins on December 28, 2025 at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, FL (Photo by Cliff Welch\/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Uthmeier asked Goodell to confirm by May 1 that the NFL was no longer enforcing the Rooney Rule in Florida, or the league could face civil rights action. There are three NFL teams in Florida \u2014 the Buccaneers, Miami Dolphins and Jacksonville Jaguars.<\/p>\n

\t\t\"James<\/p>\n

\n\t\tGetty ImagesDOMINIC GWINN\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJames Uthmeier speaks at the National Conservatism Conference in Washington D.C., Sept. 3, 2025. (Photo by Dominic Gwinn \/ Middle East Images via AFP) (Photo by DOMINIC GWINN\/Middle East Images\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

\u201cNFL fans in Florida don\u2019t care what color their coach\u2019s skin is,\u201d the letter said. \u201cThey care what colors their coach is wearing \u2014 and that those colors are winning on the football field. The Rooney Rule and its offshoots are illegal in Florida.\u201d<\/p>\n

The NFL will have only three head coaches and four general managers who are Black next season. There were 10 head coach openings this season and none of them were filled by a Black coach.<\/p>\n

\t\t\"LOS<\/p>\n

\n\t\tGetty ImagesKevin C. Cox\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tLOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – MARCH 20: Robert Saleh attends the Practice during the Fanatics Flag Football Classic at BMO Stadium on March 20, 2026 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox\/Getty Images for OBB Media – FANATICS STUDIOS)<\/p>\n

Robert Saleh, who is of Lebanese descent, was the only minority to get a job during the most recent head coach hiring cycle when he was hired by Tennessee.<\/p>\n

This was just the fifth time since the start of the Rooney Rule in 2003 that no Black head coaches were hired during an offseason coaching cycle. The only other time it happened in a year with more than five changes was 2013, when there were eight openings.<\/p>\n

Get the latest news updates with the WPBF 25 News app. You can download it here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Goodell isn\u2019t scheduled to speak at the NFL\u2019s annual meetings until Tuesday, but said in February that increasing diversity is still one of the league\u2019s goals.<\/p>\n

\t\t\"dpatop<\/p>\n

\n\t\tGetty Imagespicture alliance\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tdpatop – 02 February 2026, USA, San Jose: American Football: Professional league NFL, NFL boss Roger Goodell speaks at a press conference before Super Bowl LX between the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots. Photo: Maximilian Haupt\/dpa (Photo by Maximilian Haupt\/picture alliance via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to continue to make progress,\u201d Goodell said. \u201cI believe that and I believe diversity is good for us. … I think we have to become a more diverse league across every platform, including coaching. But we still have more work to do.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"First-year Atlanta Falcons general manager Ian Cunningham said he\u2019ll continue to push for more diversity in the NFL\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":212190,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[97073,97076,97075,97072,97071,28,30,29,97077,8013,11977,97074,119,73601,1100,97078,7910,1328,189],"class_list":["post-212189","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-23-year-old-rooney-rule","tag-black-head-coach","tag-cunningham","tag-despite-florida-ag-pushback","tag-falcons-gm-ian-cunningham-says-work-to-be-done-in-nfl-minority-hiring","tag-florida","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-news","tag-goodell","tag-head-coach","tag-league","tag-minority","tag-nfl","tag-position","tag-season","tag-sex-discrimination","tag-uthmeier","tag-work","tag-wpbf"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212189","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=212189"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212189\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/212190"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=212189"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=212189"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=212189"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}