The Fritz Pollard Alliance is calling on the NFL to look into whether the Oakland Raiders violated the “Rooney Rule” when they hired Jon Gruden as coach. The group thinks that Raiders owner Mark Davis came to an agreement with Gruden before the team interviewed any minority candidates. Fritz Pollard Alliance counsel Cyrus Mehri and N. Jeremi Duru issued a statement on Wednesday addressing these concerns. The Raiders officially hired Gruden on an. 6. Raiders general manager Reggie McKenzie said that he interviewed two minority candidates — Oakland tight ends coach Bobby Johnson and USC offensive coordinator Tee Martin — before Gruden’s hiring was announced. The Rooney Rule requires teams to interview at least one minority candidaate as part of an open process. Before Gruden’s hiring was official, Fritz Pollard Alliance chairman John Wooten told ESPN that he trusted the team had followed the rule. But Mehri wants to make sure that Davis and Gruden did not reach a verbal agreement that Gruden was going to coach for the Raiders and then interview the minority coaches afterwards.
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