Ryan Clark responds to trolls on Twitter by educating them about Bruce Arians’ inclusive coaching staff.
Ryan Clark, an ESPN commentator and former NFL safety, celebrated Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach Bruce Arians and his inclusive staff on Twitter on Sunday. Among other things, the team includes two women and three Black coordinators.
The first female coaches to win a Super Bowl were Lori Locust, the assistant defensive line coach, and Maral Javadifar, the assistant strength and conditioning coach. Along with these coaches, Arians collaborates with special teams coordinator Keith Armstrong, defensive coordinator Arians , offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich, assistant head coach Harold Goodwin, and run game coordinator Todd Bowles. The four men are all Black.
That being said, Clark acknowledged in a brief note of gratitude to Arians how uncommon this is still in the NFL.
It has always been difficult for the NFL and league owners to appoint anyone other than white men to positions of leadership. There are just five Black general managers in the league (Andrew Berry, Chris Grier, Martin Mayhew, Brad Holmes, Terry Fontenot) and three Black head coaches (Mike Tomlin, Brian Flores, David Culley). After team owners added three more this summer, the number of Black general managers increased dramatically. Conversely, Black people make up about 70% of the players. With the exception of the Bucs, no NFL team has more than one female coach.
When questioned about his inclusive workforce, Arians responded, “That was not by design.” “I know no better coaches than those.”
Although Clark was correct to point out the diversity of the Bucs coaching staff, the statement sparked to an argument with Twitter users because some fans still believe the NFL is colorblind. Clark explained his remarks to others who appeared to be misinterpreting them and were steering the discussion in the wrong way. Some of Clark’s supporters sought to make absurd arguments about why the NFL commentator shouldn’t make it about race when he was trying to applaud Arians and his staff.
Of course, it would be wonderful if the NFL could follow suit. Nevertheless, Black coaches are not given the same opportunity as White coaches. Thus, the answer is undoubtedly related to race.
Because in a league where African Americans make up the majority, those coaches are frequently denied leadership possibilities. I’m applauding the White Head Coach for giving this diverse set of coaches a chance.
It was amazing how patient Clark was with these trolls. Many of the commenters deleted their tweets in response to his comments. For those of the opposition who were prepared to listen, he dissected his case piece by piece, and that is precisely what these trolls ought to do.
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