Home Sports Racism is why your favorite team hired a sorry white guy instead of a really good Black Super Bowl coach

Racism is why your favorite team hired a sorry white guy instead of a really good Black Super Bowl coach

Racism is why your favorite team hired a sorry white guy instead of a really good Black Super Bowl coach

Tampa. Bay OC Byron Leftwich (l.) celebrates Bucs’ Super Bowl win with Tom Brady.

Tampa. Bay OC Byron Leftwich (l.) celebrates Bucs’ Super Bowl win with Tom Brady.
Image: Getty Images

Stupid is as stupid does.

Racism has always caused white people to make really bad decisions, especially in sports. I mean, how else can you explain the cliff that baseball has fallen off given the way the sport has treated Black players at every level for decades. The determination to keep certain aspects of sports as white as possible has always come at a cost. And on Sunday night, the world watched as three of football’s best coaches — who happened to be Black — had to serve as assistants due to white owners not hiring them for one of the seven head coaching vacancies that have been filled over the past few weeks.

In September, I wrote about how racism is why teams usually draft sorry white quarterbacks, as I broke down some recent drafts in which multiple teams have totally whiffed on selecting a franchise Black quarterback, all because they preferred a sorry white one.

Hatred and bigotry really are terrible business models.

A few weeks ago, I wrote about how the two teams left standing after an unforgettable season due to COVID-19, had staffs that were filled with women and Black coaches. It was the ultimate example of all the benefits that come along when diversity is encouraged and supported.

After every Super Bowl, the winning quarterback and both head coaches get a ton of the attention, praise, and blame for what worked and didn’t work. That’s just how it is. But, in a game in which three of the four offensive and defensive coordinators were Black, we need to address how well those men did, and why they won’t be leading their own teams next season.

Illustration for article titled Racism is why your favorite team hired a sorry white guy instead of a really good Black Super Bowl coach

Image: Getty Images

Eric Bieniemy – OC, Kansas City Chiefs

For the last few weeks, all we’ve heard are rumors that Bieniemy (the poster child for how overqualified Black candidates get passed over), doesn’t “interview well,” which is why he hasn’t been hired. That lie was put to rest when the Lions hired a man that wants his team to bite their opponents’ kneecaps.

The other excuse we heard was that since Bieniemy didn’t “call the plays” in Kansas City, Andy Reid was the reason why the Chiefs offense and Patrick Mahomes were so great. Well, since the Chiefs and Mahomes both sucked on Sunday night and were held to just three field goals, as Mahomes threw two interceptions and was barely over 50 percent, Bieniemy can’t be blamed for Reid’s play-calling failures. The lack of production is squarely on the shoulders of Reid and his quarterback. You can’t have it both ways.


Illustration for article titled Racism is why your favorite team hired a sorry white guy instead of a really good Black Super Bowl coach

Image: Getty Images

Byron Leftwich – OC, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

This is what was said about Leftwich before the Super Bowl:

“I was very, very pissed Byron at least didn’t get an interview this year. For the job that he’s done, I get way too much credit and so does Tom Brady.” – Bruce Arians.

“Now that we’re working together, it’s been great. He’s got a great work ethic, great football IQ and it’s been a growing process for both of us in growing together. When you work together for a long period of time, we began to see the game very similarly. When he’s watching film, he thinks, ‘Oh, this is what Tom would like,’ and vice versa.” – Tom Brady.

One of the most beloved head coaches in NFL history and the greatest football player of all time are all huge fans of Leftwich, and he couldn’t even get an interview. Sunday night, the Bucs offense scored 31 points and accumulated 26 first downs, 340 yards, averaged 5.4 yards a play, and didn’t turn the ball over once.

You would think an offensive coach of that caliber would demand some level of respect. But after the game, Leftwich was busy correcting media members that think all Black people look alike.


Illustration for article titled Racism is why your favorite team hired a sorry white guy instead of a really good Black Super Bowl coach

Image: AP

Todd Bowles: DC, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Drew Brees, Aaron Rodgers, or Patrick Mahomes. It doesn’t matter. If you put a future hall of fame quarterback in front of a Todd Bowles defense, he will make them look bad.

According to NextGenStats, Mahomes ran 497 yards before throwing the ball or being sacked on Sunday night, making it the highest total for any quarterback this season. Bowles barely blitzed and took away the Chiefs’ most explosive weapon in Tyreek Hill, as he was held to seven catches for just 73 yards. The scheme was a masterpiece, as Bowles’ defense turned Mahomes into the one thing he is not, a game manager. Instead of the exciting big plays and ridiculous passes he throws multiple times a game, we’ve never seen Mahomes be a quarterback that can methodically take his team down the field for multiple drives. Bowles knew that and exposed the biggest hole in Mahomes’ game.

Now, this is the part where someone will bring up the fact that Bowles had “his chance” when he was the head coach of the New York Jets from 2015-2018. And because of that, I will also remind you that in his first season in New York, Bowles won more games over two seasons (10) than did Adam Gase, the sorry white coach that replaced him (9).

Sadly, the trio of Bieniemy, Leftwich, and Bowles will all be assistant coaches next season. Hopefully, they’ll get interview opportunities, but that remains to be seen. You have to prepare for the worse and hope for the best whenever it comes to race relations and the NFL. Because in case you forgot, during the Super Bowl the league ran a commercial about how they’ve committed $250 million to combating systemic racism, all while still being a proponent of systemic racism by the continued blackballing of Colin Kaepernick.

This article is auto-generated by Algorithm Source: deadspin.com

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