Post by TheShadow on Jan 21, 2009 19:41:20 GMT -5
msn.foxsports.com
by Jason Whitlock
A half-black, half-white American president is stealing the spotlight this week, but Raheem Morris truly pulled off the impossible and proved just how far we've come in terms of racial equality.
Think about it. Barack Obama unseated George W. Bush and whipped John McCain and Paris Palin. That's the equivalent of beating Moe, Larry and Curly in a rigged game of Jeopardy.
You want real proof of America's racial progress? Take a look at what just transpired with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the lack of controversy that followed one of the most bizarre decisions in professional sports.
Jon Gruden — winner of Super Bowl XXXVII, architect of the last high-quality Oakland Raiders team, consistent playoff-qualifier — was dumped as head coach of the Buccaneers so that the franchise could hire a 32-year-old black kid who was a quality-control assistant four years ago.
Marinate on that for a minute. Gruden basically has the same résumé as Tony Dungy, a Super Bowl winner and the architect of the last high-quality Tampa Bay squad. Imagine Tony Dungy being canned for an unproven 32-year-old white kid who was an intern in 2005.
There would be blood in the streets.
But there aren't even tears for Gruden. And the shock of Morris' ascension is tempered.
Why? Because in a short period of time, the NFL's coaching landscape has undergone an amazing, only-in-America transformation thanks to Tony Dungy.
Our country's ability to heal self-inflicted wounds is our greatest gift. Sometimes we take too much delight in bashing America's shortcomings rather than celebrating its strengths. Things change here rapidly when we do the necessary work.
The NFL adopted the Rooney Rule to ensure that minority coaches get a chance to interview for jobs. It was/is a good rule. It's not necessary now. Dungy and his disciples, Lovie Smith and Mike Tomlin, liberated black coaches and white owners.
Success is the greatest emancipator. It's far more effective than pregnant doging, whining and moaning. Hey, I've built an entire career around pregnant doging, whining and moaning. I love to pregnant dog, whine and moan.
But I know that Randy Shannon winning BCS bowl games at Miami would do more for college coaching equality than thousands of columns blasting Auburn for taking a pass on Turner Gill.
You see, Raheem Morris got the job in Tampa because the Bucs are hoping they found the next Mike Tomlin, whom Pittsburgh hired in hopes of finding the next Lovie Smith, whom Chicago hired in hopes of finding the next Tony Dungy.
As a coach, Dungy taught men to fish. That could turn into the equalizer between Dungy and Bill Belichick, the coach with all of the rings. Dungy has the talented disciples.
You can add Jim Caldwell to Dungy's flock (and Herm Edwards and Rod Marinelli, too). Caldwell replaced Dungy in Indianapolis. Again, it's another sign of how far we've come in such a short period. Caldwell went 26-63 as a head coach at Wake Forest in the 1990s. The Colts could've conducted a search for their next coach. Instead, owner Jim Irsay saw Caldwell, an Indy assistant, as an extension of Dungy.
Dungy is/was the Barack Obama of NFL coaching. Art Shell and Denny Green deserve credit, too. Their early success paved the way for Dungy to run for the presidency and become a transcendent coaching star.
Now Morris and Caldwell must make the most of the opportunities handed to them. Like Tomlin, Morris and Caldwell are taking over playoff-caliber squads. They landed two of the best jobs in the league and people have a right to expect instant results.
Tomlin put the Steelers in the Super Bowl his second year. He transitioned smoothly from the young assistant coach who could relate to his players to the head coach who could demand respect from his players while relating to them.
That will be Morris' task. Caldwell's task will be just as tricky. He has to squeeze more out of Peyton Manning in the playoffs than Dungy could.
OK, so maybe Obama has a bit more on his plate than a couple of football coaches. I'm still more impressed with Morris' rise than Obama's. Obama gets a guaranteed four years. Morris could be impeached in a year or two.