The problem isn’t just getting hired, it’s bouncing back after you get fired. For Mike Vrabel, his bounce-back came in the form of returning to New England to take over the head coach position. His comeback was to the detriment of Jerod Mayo, who was fired following one 4-13 season. Then attacked for winning his final game.
Vrabel played eight years in New England and won three Super Bowls at linebacker before being traded in 2009. He previously faced the Pats as a Texans assistant coach and twice as head of the Tennessee Titans.
Mayo, of course, also played for Belichick and is a Super Bowl champion, but he was given just one season to turn the team into a winner and after an in-person interview with Robert and Jonathan Kraft on Thursday in Boston, Vrabel will undoubtedly get more than one season with a rookie quarterback at the helm.
There are plenty of Black sports voices that spoke out against the firing of Mayo and the first-year firing of Vegas Raiders head coach Antonio Pierce as part of some larger systemic problem in the coaching development process.
NFL Tight End Daniel Wilcox Says Jerod Mayo and Antonio Pierce Were Set up For Failure
Though harshly disputed by some who are tired of hearing about racial disparities in positions of leadership in professional sports, particularly the NFL head coaching position, FS1 host Emmanuel Acho and former NFL tight end Daniel Wilcox aren’t happy with the turn of events.
Acho went in on the percentages of Black head coaches that get fired after one season compared to their white counterparts historically.
“Over the last 10 years…53 white head coaches have been hired, 6 got fired after 1 year (11%). 14 Black HCs have been hired, 5 got fired after 1 year (35%),” Acho said. He implied systemic racism is to blame.
Wilcox joined former NFL fullback Ovie Mughelli in The Shadow League’s “Locker Room” to weigh in on the recent firings. The two former players give direct insight on how these moves are viewed within their world, unattached from the emotion of fandom.
“As soon as I saw the news I was like, F-k the Patriots and F-k The Raiders,’” said Wilcox, who first asked if he could speak frankly. “It was a token hire in the first place.”
Wilcox says the fact that ownership listened to the players and removed Pierce’s interim tag gave him great hope initially. “I said the world is really starting to change…and Mayo too,” Wilcox recalls.
Daniel Wilcox Says There’s No Professional Cause For Las Vegas Raiders or New England Patriots To Fire Head Coaches
Wilcox played in the NFL from 2001-2008 with the New York Jets, Tampa Bay Bucs and Baltimore Ravens. He helped the Bucs to the franchise’s first Super Bowl (XXXVII) in 2002.
In addition to being token hires, Wilcox says the organizations set them up for failure.
“No it’s not justified at all.” Wilcox said of the firings. “How is it going to be your fault when you’re taking on somebody else’s team. You didn’t even get a chance to build your team yet give me two or three years to build a team. How are you going to fire me after the first year? To me there has to be some conduct detrimental to the team type sh-t and if it’s not that kind of stuff …”
Now these two promising coaches are back on the scrap heap, scarred by the firings with reputations as losing coaches
Mayo’s wife, Chantel, wasn’t happy about the firing and she lashed out at the organization’s handling of the situation as classless on social media.
Added Wilcox: “I have no idea why these two Black men are at home. It makes no sense, even if you hold the coaches to the same standards of the players. What did they really do wrong? Did they sleep with the owner’s daughters or something? What really happened?”
NFL Franchises Need To Give Black Coaches Better Opportunities To Succeed
Wilcox and Mughelli both agree that as far as former NFL players are concerned, “both (Mayo and Pierce) are former players, who gave their heart and soul to these programs,” Wilcox told “The Locker Room.”
“I played against both of these guys, so to see them both get a chance to be a head coach it really made me feel warm on the inside.”
Wilcox expressed how proud they were that NFL franchises were giving two young Black coaches who were loved by the players, a rare chance to lead. Mughelli lauded the moves when they happened and thought both coaches would be given some time to build a winning team.
“This what you’re supposed to do, let him really have a chance to make it work… One year gone,” Mughelli said.
Wilcox and Mughelli express their feelings that the racial divide in the NFL is still very relevant. It’s not just in the hiring and firing of coaches, but the way Black coaches are judged. Wilco says NFL organizations try to dismiss the knowledge of Black men who have played the game at a high level for years, once they do enter the coaching realms.
“You can’t go play this game for thirty years of your life and not know football, ” Wilcox insisted. “But every time you go and try to coach, they try to belittle you and bring you all the way down to some intern sh-t, instead of putting you in a spot where you can still be beneficial to these players and this program.”
Black Coaches Relate To Black Players: NFL Front Offices Don’t Care
A key aspect of coaching is being able to relate to and inspire your players. That’s a trait that Wilcox says is ignored in the hiring process, especially when it comes to Black candidates who have played in the NFL.
“One thing that’s always overlooked is being able to relate to your team and players (culturally) and that’s what happens when you bring in guys like Mayo and Pierce… and they keep hiring these white guys who are quirky…can’t relate to the players,” Wilcox continued.
The debate about Black coaching representation in the NFL is an ongoing one, with mainstream media and fans less-inclined to listen to the gripes of former players and current Black coaching candidates.
However, the numbers say that the league still has some work to do and while the best way to overcome is to win, Mayo and Pierce were put in impossible situations and Wilcox was adamant about his position that they both were done dirty.
