Advocate: Law could be 'catalyst'

0 Comments | USA TODAY, September, 2006 | by Steve Wieberg

An attorney prominent in minority-hiring initiatives in the NFL sees Title VII as a potentially effective tool in efforts to increase the number of black head coaches in major-college football. "It can be a catalyst for change," says Cyrus Mehri, a founding partner in a Washington, D.C., law firm and counsel for the Fritz Pollard Alliance, an advocacy group working to place more minorities in NFL head coaching and front office jobs.

Mehri, though, adds he is lukewarm to plans by the Black Coaches Association to turn to the federal non-discrimination statute -- and courts -- as early as this winter. He argues that litigation should be "the last resort." Instead, he urges colleges and the NCAA to draw up a version of the NFL's 4-year-old Rooney Rule, which penalizes teams for...