There aren’t many days where it’s a good idea to offer up a story about how Josh McCown deserves to be an NFL coach, but posting it the day after a Washington Post expose on how impossible it can be for Black coaches to become NFL head coaches is perhaps the worst possible time.
If not for the Brian Flores lawsuit, McCown would likely be the head coach of the Houston Texans right now. The Texans had just fired David Culley, a Black coach, after one season. Even though McCown had never served as a coach in the NFL or college, the Texans were reportedly deadset on hiring the former NFL quarterback who was said to be close with the franchise’s front staff.
However, the optics of hiring a completely untested white coach after firing a Black coach following one season were, at best, terrible. Not to mention that the NFL was catching heat for the lack of minority head coaches despite the many qualified candidates out there. So the Texans blinked and elevated Lovie Smith as their head coach.
However, there were plenty of people out there who saw it as a placeholder move until the smoke clears and the Texans could hire McCown in a few years anyway.
Thursday, The Athletic’s Dan Pompei posted an article about McCown and how, actually, despite being unproven and untested in any meaningful way, he deserves the shot.
While it makes sense that someone like McCown would make their way into coaching as so many quarterbacks before he has, the fact that McCown has yet to work on any NFL or college football staff would seemingly disqualify him for the time being (it most certainly would if he were Black).
The gist of the article is that because McCown spent so much time in the NFL around so many great players and coaches, and is really well-liked, that makes him qualified. Right or wrong, the sentiment didn’t seem to inspire much faith in NFL circles on social media.
This story really cements @washingtonpost's findings on NFL coaching and how Black and White coaches are viewed: https://t.co/fOt20wbfZr https://t.co/hyBAtnFfzt pic.twitter.com/fhhvYa5s6z
— Emmanuel (@eh_mah_nwel) September 22, 2022
Kinda hard to read this and not think of the WaPo project on Black coaches having to slog for years before getting their shot.
I have literally nothing against McCown and can see he understands how this all looks. This is about NFL ownership, not him. https://t.co/IjBEULSaHA
— Khari Thompson (@kdthompson5) September 22, 2022
https://twitter.com/A_G_Haubner/status/1573029677299470336
https://t.co/WS8tAJi5vX pic.twitter.com/gh1FTj8pLn
— Tashan Reed (@tashanreed) September 22, 2022
lmao same day as the article about how Josh McCown got to play until he was 41 and instantly enter head coaching consideration https://t.co/Aj9fRm8wpd
— Rodger Sherman (@rodger) September 22, 2022
https://t.co/cxHjBN7SZk pic.twitter.com/2m67HVajV9
— athena 🇵🇸 (@ShieldofPallas) September 22, 2022
About Sean Keeley
Along with writing for Awful Announcing and The Comeback, Sean is the Managing Editor for Comeback Media. Previously, he created the Syracuse blog Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician and wrote 'How To Grow An Orange: The Right Way to Brainwash Your Child Into Rooting for Syracuse.' He has also written non-Syracuse-related things for SB Nation, Curbed, and other outlets. He currently lives in Seattle where he is complaining about bagels. Send tips/comments/complaints to sean@thecomeback.com.