New England Patriots assistant Thomas Brown hopes NFL coaching staffs are chosen on merit, but he’s admittedly frustrated to see the overwhelming majority of high-level vacancies still going to white candidates.
‘It’s a very complex conversation, something that has been a consistent dialogue almost every single year,’ the 40-year-old running back-turned-assistant coach told ESPN’s Mike Reiss. ‘To say it’s frustrating in some ways is probably an understatement.’
The league’s Rooney Rule requires teams to interview at least two external minority candidates for head-coaching and general-manager vacancies, as well as at least one for coordinator roles.
But as well intentioned as it may be, the rule has not had its desired effect. Currently the NFL has just three Black coaches: Tampa Bay’s Todd Bowles, Houston’s DeMeco Ryans and the New York Jets’ Aaron Glenn.
Meanwhile, there are only a small handful of Black coaches in coordinator positions, which happen to be the most obvious stepping stone into a head-coaching role.
‘I’ve constantly heard this mantra the last six years in the NFL that people hire the most qualified candidates, which I hope is true and accurate,’ he continued. ‘But you’re also seeing almost every time that is never a Black coach, which is frustrating.
New England Patriots assistant Thomas Brown hopes NFL coaching staffs are chosen on merit, but he’s admittedly frustrated to see so many good candidates passed over for jobs
‘I’ve also heard the phrase “there’s not many candidates in the pipeline to choose from.”‘ I do take issue with that, because I’ve been around some high-level great communicators, great connectors of people, at every stop I’ve been.’
Brown has spent years climbing the professional ladder, just like countless other coaches.
A University of Georgia product who played parts of three NFL seasons, Brown became the Bulldogs’ strength-and-conditioning coach in 2011 before taking six different college jobs across nine years.
From there, he’d win a Super Bowl under Sean McVay with the Los Angeles Rams before newly hired Carolina head coach Frank Reich named him the Panthers offensive coordinator in 2023.
Unfortunately for Brown, he’d be out of a job a year later when Reich was summarily dismissed. Brown would later go to Chicago, where he briefly served as interim coach following Matt Eberflus’ 2024 dismissal, before arriving in New England in 2025.
Under Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel (red vest) and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, Thomas Brown (red hat) guided the NFL’s sixth-ranked passing attack last season
Brian Flores, who sued the NFL in 2022, coached one of the best defenses in football in 2025
Under Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, Brown guided the NFL’s sixth-ranked passing attack last season, while New England’s Hunter Henry ranked seventh among tight ends with 769 receiving yards.
Brown is not the only African-American coach to voice concern about the league’s hiring process.
The NFL is currently facing a lawsuit from Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores and other Black coaches over allegations of discrimination. The Supreme Court has denied the NFL’s effort to move the proceedings to private arbitration.
The league has denied any wrongdoing amid a lengthy discovery process that Flores’ legal team believes will prove systemic bias.
