Minority NFL head coaches hired to lose amid lawsuit over alleged racial discrimination

This is a column by Morgan Campbell, who writes opinion for CBC Sports. For more information about CBC's Opinion section, please see the FAQ.

On Monday afternoon the Houston Texans promoted defensive coordinator Lovie Smith to head coach, a routine transaction if you focus on the merits.

Smith, 63, spent nine seasons as head coach of the Chicago Bears, compiling 81 wins and 63 losses, and leading the team to its first Super Bowl appearance since its mid-1980s glory days. The Bears fired Smith in 2012, after the team went 10-6. In 2014 he resurfaced in Tampa Bay, where he went 8-24 over two years with the rebuilding Bucs.

The other main candidate for the Texans' head coaching job? Recently retired quarterback Josh McCown, who has never coached in the NFL in any capacity.

A simple decision if you're seeking the best résumé.

Except McCown is white, and if you follow NFL head coach hiring patterns, you know that detail gives McCown more than an inside track in a job competition against a Black person. It gives him a head start, too. And sympathetic race marshals.

A week ago, McCown was the favourite to win the Texans' job, vacated when the club fired David Culley. Smith surfaced late in the coaching search, even though he was already on the Texans' staff. His name appeared in media reports last Friday, and by Monday the Texans had named him their new on-field boss. In promoting Smith, the Texans become only the second franchise in NFL history to hire two consecutive Black coaches.

If you're curious about who did it first — it was the Indianapolis Colts who replaced Tony Dungy with Jim Caldwell in 2009.

And if you're wondering how Smith went from afterthought to top candidate in 48 hours, credit the Flores effect.

That's