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 ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) - The NFL's rule that at least one minority candidate be interviewed for each head coaching vacancy is the reason there are now a record seven black head coaches, six more than 16 years ago, the author of several sports diversity studies said Thursday.
The University of Central Florida's Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport credited the league's "Rooney Rule," adopted in late 2002, for the improvement.
"It's been really fast-tracked in a big-time way," study author Richard Lapchick said. "I've always felt the commissioner (Paul Tagliabue) had high on his priority list to improve the record for diversity, but until then he just didn't have the leverage."
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