I'm all for having black coaches in gridiron: all due respect to Mike Zimmer, but Denny Green is my favorite Vikings coach from my time remembering the team, all the way back to the late 1980s. But this has to be called for what it is: racist. You don't combat arson by setting houses on fire-- what's that old adage about becoming what you hate?

And that said, as is almost always the case where there are different outcomes per demographic group, there are probably tons of rational, alternative explanations-- other than racism, in this case-- for why there aren't more black head coaches. Just like there are alternative explanations for why the players themselves are 70% black: I don't think whites are being discriminated against, nor do I think teams should be given extra draft picks for signing white running backs, of which there are only 12.8% in the league.

In another sport-- soccer football-- many of the world's best coaches are Italians. This isn't because the world is racially biased towards Italians: rather, it's because Italians have a very advanced footballing culture, which focuses on tactics for kids from practically toddler-hood. As a result, when in a job interview process, the Italian coaches are quite often better qualified than the Spanish, German, or English coaches.

In the article's embedded video clip, Michael Wilbon asks "why is it so hard for teams to hire qualified black coaches?" But that question is sophistry: the real question is, when going up against coaches from other racial groups, why are the black coaches falling at the final hurdle when it comes to being the most qualified for the job? What kinds of interviewing, leadership, or technical skills could be taught to help them fare better in the process? If you follow that thought train, you might get somewhere-- and not become a bigot in the process.

Because in the NFL, it's all about winning-- and teams are going to select the candidate which gives them the best chance of accomplishing that.