Miami Herald's David Neal's Racial Brainwash - Think's It's OK To Hire Lane Kiffin, But Not Mike Tomlin

Here's an example of racial brainwashing, if not outright racism: the Miami Herald's David Neal and his take on Mike Tomlin versus Lane Kiffin. He think's that the Steelers should have hired Russ Grimm because he has more years in the league that Mike Tomlin, and thinks that Tomlin was a Rooney Rule hire. In otherwords, he was selected because he's black and not because he's a good coach who's right for the Steelers.

But this person who to me seems to have some real race issues, can't wrap his mind around the idea that the Oakland Raiders selection of Lane Kiffin -- who had just over a year as offensive coordinator at USC -- was not right and that the Raiders could have hired a young black NFL assistant like Tomlin. He seems to think that the Raiders hiring of Art Shell -- and is blind to their pattern of seeking out young white assistants for their head coaching positions.

How do I know this, because of our email exchange. Apparently, he's fixated on someone being Jewish, whereas I am not. Here's the thread:


Me to Him...

From: zenabraham@aol.com [mailto:zenabraham@aol.com]
Sent: Friday, January 26, 2007 4:56 AM
To: Neal, David
Subject: Mike Tomlin v. Lane Kiffin - Racism In Action

Hi,

I read your column "All minorities not ready for NFL head coaching jobs" and wondered with what kind of glasses you were looking at the World around you.

You some how and without explaination overlooked the fact that the Oakland Raiders hired a 31-year old-assistant-to-an-assistant of a college program -- and who USC fans wanted fired -- to be a head coach in the NFL, who's white. But amazingly you write a column that dares to question Steelers Head Coach Mike Tomlin's credentials versus Russ Grimm, and suggest that Tomlin was selected because he's black.

Well, I've written that Kiffin was selected because he's white. See, what is evident in the World around you is that it's ok for someone like Lane Kiffin to be who he is: young, confident, and white and male, but when America's faced with the Black equivalent, they can't handle it. Blacks who don't fit the "black" stereotype are shunned much more often in sports front offices. Whites who are not qualified are picked because -- as Al Davis put it -- he (Lane) is confident.

Geez.

Why in hell -- it can't be heaven -- did you ignore the Raiders hire of the under qualified Kiffin? This is a hire that comes as "Affirmative Action for Young White Guys" but hey, that's ok, I guess, huh?

Well, it's not OK.

Please have the intellectual courage to really see -- and write -- about problems like these, rather than what was a rather clumsy attempt to maintain the status-quo.

Racism is a terrible thing. It prevents the flow of capital to its most efficient points, and causes people to even think less well that they are capable of doing (This is a proven fact.) Please examine your values and change your thinking to advance society.

Thanks,

Zennie Abraham, Jr.

Him To Me


In a message dated 1/29/07 7:29:48 AM, DNeal@miamiherald.com writes:


Before you ring up the Raiders, let's take a look at that organization:

Headed by a Jewish kid from Brooklyn; hired the first Hispanic head coach (Tom Flores); hired the first black head coach of the modern era (Art Shell, in 1989); hired Shell again last year after he was out of coaching for several years; and are grooming Amy Trask to be the first woman to head an NFL organization.
So, forgive me if I think the Raiders shouldn't be questioned about diversity the way other organizations should be.

But I didn't think of Lane Kiffin because the column was about taking a look at the situations of Rivera and Tomlin and what those situations said about the willingness of organizations to give minority coaches a shot, something the Raiders did long ago. That's all the column was.
Two years ago, I questioned whether the NFL should have the "Rooney Rule" on the theory that if teams want to exclude excellent minority candidates from their hiring pools, let them -- those teams will be dealing with a smaller talent pool and will suffer the consequences, the same way any business in a highly competitive atmosphwere will if they limit their talent pool because of race, gender, religion, etc.

And the glasses I'm looking through are those of someone who has been black in this country for 39 years, married to someone who has been black and Jewish in this country for 48 years (when her parents were married, it was illegal in 36 states); and both who have had a foot in "black America" and in so-called "mainstream America" their whole lives.

Talk to me about racism in this country, pal. I don't have to march on the front lines of that battle. I've been living there.

David Neal
Miami Herald

Me to Him

But out here, where the Raiders are, the tune is different...I'll not soon back off on my position regarding Lane. Plus, tokenism does not make true diversity. You've never been to the Raiders headquarters; I have. Many times.

Plus, I don't see being Jewish as bringing the same baggage. That's a hard call. There are many people of Jewish extention in NFL front offices. Plus, my last name's Abraham....

Also, I'm black.

Finally, given what you wrote about your significant other, it's all the more diappointing that you took the stance you did. It's unreal, really. Why did you do that?

Best,

Zennie Abraham, Jr.

Him to Me

Gee, guess I'm not allowed to have an honest opinion that Tomlin's resume wasn't exactly the strongest for being THE hot head coaching candidate among coaches whose teams aren't still playing. And if I'm Pittsburgh, unless there's a huge discrepancy in interviews or something seen over the years from Grimm being in the organization, I'm definitely taking Russ Grimm over Tomlin. Tomlin might be the next Don Shula or Tom Landry. But on the black and white of coaching credentials, Tomlin didn't have as many.

(Another NFL reporter I was talking with minutes ago agreed wholeheartedly, but said, "That's a projection hire. Tomlin's going to be a star.")

And my wife, not always a fan of my writing, certainly understood my point -- when a Hispanic guy would be the hottest head coaching candidate if his team weren't still going and a brother who has one year as a DC for a defense that was overall good but not great gets the job over the entrenched white guy, that speaks well for opportunity knocking.

The Tomlin situation reminded me in a roundabout way of a review of "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" in which the reviewer said what's the big deal? Sidney Potier's character was such a good-hearted renaissance superman, Spencer Tracy would've had to have been the grand wizard of the local KKK to reject him as a son-in-law. The reviewer said Tracy's final speech and the movie would've said more had Potier's character been far from perfect. (Speaking well of Potier's ability as an actor, it's fun to imagine "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" but with Potier's character having almost-concealed anger and contempt of Potier's Virgil Tibbs in "In The Heat of the Night").

If you want to call the head coaching hires of Flores and Shell "tokenism" by the Raiders, after both had been players and assistants in the organization for years, OK. Seems rather a rather convenient opinion, however.

I think you meant "Jewish extraction." What's "Jewish extension?" A Long Island blond with a Hasidic curl weave?

DJN
Miami Herald

________________________________

" A Long Island blond with a Hasidic curl weave?" Dd I read that correctly. This is a guy with some massive issues who writes for a large newspaper in a major city, Miami.

Wow.

Note the text he writes, totally peppered with racial references that make my skin crawl. And this part really pissed me off:

And my wife, not always a fan of my writing, certainly understood my point -- when a Hispanic guy would be the hottest head coaching candidate if his team weren't still going and a brother who has one year as a DC for a defense that was overall good but not great gets the job over the entrenched white guy, that speaks well for opportunity knocking.

The Tomlin situation reminded me in a roundabout way of a review of "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" in which the reviewer said what's the big deal? Sidney Potier's character was such a good-hearted renaissance superman, Spencer Tracy would've had to have been the grand wizard of the local KKK to reject him as a son-in-law. The reviewer said Tracy's final speech and the movie would've said more had Potier's character been far from perfect. (Speaking well of Potier's ability as an actor, it's fun to imagine "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" but with Potier's character having almost-concealed anger and contempt of Potier's Virgil Tibbs in "In The Heat of the Night").

See, David Neal's writing that Ron Rivera, the Chicago Bears Defensive Coordinator, wasn't a hot head coaching prospect until the Bears hit the Super Bowl. WHAT A RIDICULOUS TRAIN OF THOUGHT. Rivera was hot last year, but David Neal's not paying attention to that, I guess. All the better for him to cry about blacks and Latino's getting a chance to be head coach.

Plus, he didn't tell his wife about Lane Kiffin. I'd love to see her reaction after she's informed about his selection as the Raiders coach!

See, in David Neal's world, it's jus fine to be a very young and green head coaching selection -- as long as you're white like Lane Kiffin. But Blacks like Mike Tomlin need not apply.

This is an example of the racist media in action. Makes me sick to my stomach.

At War With The Raider Nation Over Lane Kiffin and The Raiders' Affirmative Action For Young White Men

Upon the annoucement that the Oakland Raiders hired Lane Kiffin as their new head coach, it can be said that I went balistic. Why? Well, look at his background:

-- Two years as USC Offensive Coordinator, not six as reported on Raiderfans.net (Hey, did someone clear this with Norm Chow? I thought he was the USC OC and not Kiffin. Kiffin was promoted to OC in 2005, thus he's not been the USC OC for six years. Sorry, but the Raiderfans report is an error.)
--  No NFL coordinator experience
--  One year as Quality Control coach for the Jacksonville Jaguars
-- No college head coaching experience
--  No NFL head coaching experience

Why do the Raider fans report that Kiffin has six years of experience as USC's Offensive Coordinator, when USC reports this:

"...Lane Kiffin, the son of longtime pro and collegiate coach Monte Kiffin, is in his sixth year at USC. He joined the Trojan staff in February of 2001 and spent the 2001 season handling the tight ends. He became the wide receivers coach in 2002. In 2004, he took on the additional duty of passing game coordinator. In 2005, he was promoted to offensive coordinator and recruiting coordinator, in addition to continuing as the wide receivers coach..."



The Raiders just insulted Tennessee Titans Offensive Coordinator Norm Chow, one of the greatest offensive coordinators in the game of football and the man who developed USC's passing system. Indeed, they should have just hired Norm Chow, who's Asian. So the Raiders are actually hiring an Assistant to an assistant at the NCAA level, right?

Plus, many USC fans are happy -- happy -- that Kiffin's gone. Check Scott Wolf of Inside USC. Or how about this AOL Blog where fans were pissed with Lane after the loss to UCLA? Heck, even UCLA fans are laughing at the Raiders! So why is the print media treating Al Davis as if he were some genius?

Why?

Or how about Hue Jackson, now Offensive Coordinator for the Atlanta Falcons and who's Black, has over 20 years of coaching experience, including Offensive Coordinator at two NCAA schools -- Cal and USC -- and now two NFL teams, and knows more pass offense than Kiffin ever saw or coached? Yet the Raiders never called him at all.

What gets me is that if Kiffin were Black, some in the media would question him as a Rooney Rule hire. But because he's White, his lack of qualifications get a pass from the media -- not me, however. It just goes to show how nuts and racist this society still is. Let Kiffin feel some heat for essentially allowing himself to be promoted as if Norm Chow didn't exist.

Regardless, many in the Raider nation were excited and not at all critical. To wake the throngs of sleeping Raiders fans, I posted this take on Raiderfans.net:

While I understand the excitement over Lane, my personal view is there's a HUGE misunderstanding over what a Head Coach -- A Good One -- does. The Raiders must be called out for "using" the Rooney Rule against its intent. They just interviewed one person to get around it -- James Lofton. Who's a wide receiver coach with the San Diego Chargers -- an NFL team.

Lane Kiffin comes from USC, not a pro team. Does he understand football administration at the pro level? Does he know how to manage a limited number of personel? He's got 100 football players at USC, but a limited number -- 53 -- with the Raiders.

So what does he do when he's got five linebackers, two are injured, and three are starting, and two of them play special teams? Does he have experience in handling this? What about using the Challenge Flag? What about all the other admin duties? How does he deal with players who are used to making a LOT of money and respect people who have been there at the pro level, and not as a quality control coach? I can do that job with my eyes closed.

NFL Head coaching is a hard, complex business. The Raiders --- I guess -- are going to really hold this guy's hand. A lot.

I feel sorry. Real sorry for all of the great NFL assistants -- regardless of color -- that were passed over and not even considered because the Raiders refuse to look at their organizational structure and change. I feel sorry for the players, who undoubtedly were not consulted about this matter and yet have to deal with what will be a VERY green person.

I feel sorry for the 31 WELL-QUALIFIED African American NFL assistant coaches who were not even consulted or listed. I feel sorry for Dennis Green, a proven coach who could come in and make a difference with the Silver and Black and didn't want to be PLAYED by the Raiders.

It's time for tough love. This Raiders need an enema. I'll write it here: Lane Kiffin is not the answer for the organization. The problems will continue -- back-stabbing and other matters -- well into this coming season.

This whole deal is enough to make me weep, but I won't.

Sure enough, I was taken to task for taking on Al Davis. It's not that I'm "taking him on" but for those who blindly -- and not critically -- follow what Mr. Davis does, no criticism can be given. But on the matter of the advancement of Black coaches in the NFL, I do not waver one bit. The Raiders have a pattern of seeking out and hiring real young white coaches to run the team -- never once have they hired anyone young, bright, and Black. Not once. So, someone asked if I was taking on Mr. Davis record of hiring minorities. This was my answer:

Yes I am. One -- a decade ago -- does not a progressive make. For the one, there are, let's see, four young white guys --- Madden, Shanahan, Gruden, Kiffin -- that Davis has hired. That's a pattern. Why not a young, bright Black guy? Why is it OK to have a ton of black running backs, but not a pattern of hiring good young black coaches?

So yes, I'm totally calling out Mr. Davis. Sorry, but I've seen enough. I'm really sick and tired of not only the maintenance of a kind of caste system, but this totally sick rush to defend a person when they hire one Black person -- twice -- as if it's throwing a freaking bone. This is stupid.

The Raiders are falling way behind the rest of the league. You all can go right ahead and get after me for this JUST as you came after me regarding Tom Walsh.

I'll sit right back and be the only person who's not afraid to point to the emperor and pull back the curtain. Social change is hard, man. But I for one will NOT stop pushing.

Why the heck can't it be the RAIDERS who go after the REALLY HOT Mike Tomlin -- WHO'S BLACK! The guy Chris Landry on Fox Sports says was the guy on a fast track. Why did it have to be the Steelers?

Why? (I know the answer here -- The ROONEY Rule.)

Folks, I don't care if I'm out there on an island here. Tough. But I'm going to be totally hard on the Raiders. I really am. I expect greatness from the organization, and it's not evident that they're really shooting for it. It's more like Afirmative Action for Young White Guys.

You think I'm bad; just tune into the NFL Network.

Of course, that did not endear me to the Raider nation and I'd rather not post their responses. But the bottom line is that there are massive problems. Here, we have Black coaches saying that the reason some of them don't get an interview is because of lack of experience. How the hell does one explain Lane Kiffin to anyone? How?

What do you say? As far as I'm concerned, the gloves have to come off at some point. I'm a Raiders fan, but as one who's staunchly for the promotion of young, bright , black coaches, it's hard to be a fan of the Silver and Black of late.

I've always been told that the one thing American society hates is a smart Black man. So when a young, smart, Black man comes along in the NFL, he's generally stopped after a point. Only Tony Dungy and just a few have broken through and Tony has used his good political currency to open doors for people like Mike Tomlin. Thus we see the development of a tree of coaches -- most Black -- that stem from Dungy. He's the one catalyst for change.

But not the Raiders.

The Raiders didn't go out and form a list of young Black coaches at all. They seem to save hiring Blacks for older Oakland Raider players and not for people who went through the NFL's Minority Recruitment Program.

As I wrote, the Silver and Black have no problem stocking up on African American running backs, but every problem in hiring smart, young , Black men.

So much for the progressive organization.

Vikings Defensive Coordinator Mike Tomlin Favorite For Pittsburgh Steelers Job

Profootballtalk.com - Mike Florio

TOMLIN TO TAKE GRIMM'S GIG?

At a time when pretty much everyone in the league and the media believe that the Steelers will promote offensive line coach Russ Grimm to the position vacated by Coach Chin, don't rule out Vikings defensive coordinator Mike Tomlin.

Though some in the organization also believe that Grimm will be the guy, the reality is that the decision will be made, in the end, by Steelers chairman Dan Rooney and team president Art Rooney II, who are being very tight-lipped (we're told) about their plans.

Tomlin is regarded by the organization as a great candidate, but his lack of experience is a concern. Due to the Buccaneers' standard refusal to allow assistant coaches under contract to leave for bigger jobs other than head coach, Tomlin was stuck in Tampa until his deal expired, and he has worked as a defensive coordinator for only one year.

The Steelers conducted a second interview of Tomlin on Tuesday, meeting with him for several hours before taking him to a Penguins game at Mellon Arena.

And unless Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette was merely looking for filler for his Wednesday item, the fact that he spent a full article getting the locals ready for the changes that would come if Tomlin gets the job could be a strong hint that Grimm might not be the guy who gets the gig.

We've said it before and we'll say it again -- we'd hire Tomlin. In a heartbeat. He instantly energized a Vikings defense that had played soft and loose and weak for most of the past decade. Sure, he's young; so were Bill Cowher and Chuck Noll.

And there's something to be said for learning on the job. Tomlin will improve, and the team that is employing him when he peaks will be a team that is annually in the conversation for the playoffs and the Super Bowl.