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Sunday, December 29
Updated: December 31, 4:40 PM ET
 
Group says Cowboys violating league rules

ESPN.com

Notre Dame coach Tyrone Willingham has told NFL officials he has no desire for a head coaching position in pro football at this time, ESPN's Chris Mortensen reports.

League officials, reportedly eager to improve the league's number of black head coaches, approached Willingham and were acting as an agent for all of the league's clubs that are considering a coaching change.

This contact might indicate league officials want to do what they can to fulfill an agreement on minority hiring reached earlier this month.

The group promoting the hiring of black coaches by NFL teams says Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones violated the spirit of a new league policy by speaking to former Vikings coach Dennis Green on the phone and not in person.

Jones, expected to fire coach Dave Campo after the Cowboys' final game, met with Bill Parcells twice in the last two weeks. Jones spoke with Green, believed to be a leading candidate for several of the vacancies that may come up.

A group headed by Johnnie Cochran Jr. and Cyrus Mehri said that wasn't enough.

"Simply talking to a minority candidate in a phone interview is not comparable to a several-hour, face-to-face meeting between candidate and owner," Mehri said Sunday.

All 32 NFL teams agreed this month to interview minority candidates when they have openings for a coach or key spots in the front office.

Mehri and Cochran released a report -- Black Coaches in the National Football League: Superior Performance, Inferior Opportunities -- earlier this year. Their report stated their proposal that owners who didn't strongly consider or interview minority candidates would lose high draft choices.

"Jerry Jones faces a choice; fully comply to his commitment to other team owners, or running afoul of the agreement he made just last week," Mehri wrote in his statement.

Mehri also wrote that if Jones and/or other NFL owners fail to live up to the agreement, then, "We are ready, willing and able to hold them accountable for their hiring practices."

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.




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