The New England Patriots received significant backlash for their handling of the Rooney Rule in their ongoing search for a new head coach.
On Tuesday, the team satisfied the rule that required them to have at least two external interviews with minority candidates by interviewing Byron Leftwich and Pep Hamilton. Both candidates haven’t coached since 2022 and likely aren’t serious options for the Patriots’ head coaching job.
Per a report from Boston Herald’s Andrew Callahan and Doug Kyed, multiple people in the building “disapproved” of owner Robert Kraft’s handling of the Rooney Rule.
Rather than going through an extensive search, the Patriots seemingly checked off two minority candidates to expedite the process of getting to the coach they really want, who most believe to be former Tennessee Titans head coach Mike Vrabel.
Callahan and Kyed wrote:
Multiple team sources disapproved of ownership’s clear flouting of the Rooney Rule, disrespecting the process and declining to gather intel from external coaching candidates about how their organizations operate and their visions for how the Patriots could run.
“Wild,” one said. “Just wild.”
The Patriots requested an interview with Detroit Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn, but Glenn denied the request and instead chose to interview with other teams.
A dark cloud of drama and disappointment has continued to follow the Patriots since the fall of the dynasty. However, there’s hope that the organization can find new life with a promising young quarterback in Drake Maye and its eventual new head coach.