The NFL had been investigating the Oakland Raiders to determine if they satisfied the Rooney Rule before hiring Jon Gruden, and the league has somehow determined that there was no violation.
On Friday, the NFL announced that the Raiders will not face any disciplinary action stemming from their head coach hiring process.
Per @NFLprguy, the NFL confirms the #Raiders complied with the Rooney Rule during the hire of Jon Gruden. The league spoke with Gruden, GM Reggie McKenzie, and owner Mark Davis. The team interviewed TE coach Bobby Johnson & #USC OC Tee Martin for HC.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 19, 2018
The Raiders confirmed at Gruden’s introductory press conference that they interviewed two minority candidates — Oakland tight ends coach Bobby Johnson and USC offensive coordinator Tee Martin. However, it is quite obvious that those were just courtesy meetings designed to satisfy the Rooney Rule, as Raiders owner Mark Davis admitted that he has been courting Gruden for six years and came to an agreement with him on Christmas Eve, which would have been before Jack Del Rio was even fired.
In all likelihood, the Raiders covered themselves with the way the Rooney Rule is currently written. Gruden tried to play coy with some laughable remarks before the team officially hired him, and that was almost certainly to keep the Raiders out of trouble. If the NFL determined that Oakland satisfied the Rooney Rule, perhaps something needs to be done to force teams to take it more seriously.
