Kevin Seifert
The NFL has interrupted the accelerator program it has been using for three years to help increase diversity levels in key coach stations, the League confirmed on Tuesday.
The last accelerator event, which links the coaches of various backgrounds with the owners and team leaders, was to take place during the spring meeting next week in Eagan, Minnesota. There have been a total of five events of this type since the creation of the program in 2022, more recently with coaches of the 2025 scouting combination.
The League gathered various candidates of the Front Office in December 2024 and also organized its annual forum for women to further extend opportunities.
In a statement provided in ESPN, the administrative director of the NFL, Dasha Smith, said that the program would be redesigned and will return next year.
“We believe that the diversity of thought and history is essential to our success,” said Smith in the press release, “and this is reflected in the policies, programs and partnerships that help us attract, develop and preserve the best talents at all levels at all levels.
“Each downside, we take a step back to think about the positive points and areas for improving our programs and assess the means to make them more impactful. This year, we have evaluated and identified additional opportunities with the accelerator – including the combination of coaching and front office programs to guarantee that the accelerator continues to be as possible.
“We decided to hold the next iteration of the accelerator in May 2026. This will allow us to reinvent the program, reflecting on the comments and engaging with the stakeholders so that we can ensure a successful program in the future. We are firmly in our commitment to strengthen our talent pipeline and create an environment that reflects the diversity of our fan base.”
CBS Sports reported the news for the first time.
The decision has occurred four months after President Donald Trump signed an executive decree that threatened federal action against organizations whose diversity, equity and inclusion programs have violated the interpretation of law of civil rights. Commissioner Roger Goodell then doubled on the diversity efforts of the NFL, which began in 2003 with the rule of Rooney, during his speech on the state of the league on February 3 in the week preceding the Super Bowl Lix.
“We had diversity efforts because we estimated that it was the right thing for the National Football League, and we will continue these efforts because we have not only convinced ourselves, I think we have proven that it improves the NFL,” TOODELL told journalists after this address. “We are not there because it is a tendency to enter or a tendency to get out of it. Our efforts are fundamental to try to attract the best possible talents in the National Football League on and off the field.”
