ORLANDO, Fla. — In a hallway between lines of conference rooms, and beside a window overlooking an 8-acre lagoon, dozens of NFL coordinators and assistant general managers mingled with team owners Tuesday.
An informal networking breakfast was wrapping. An informal networking lunch awaited later in the day. But hallway conversations were just as important. Because between keynote addresses on leadership and closed-door Q&A sessions with current NFL head coaches and general managers, the 34 participants of the NFL’s 2026 accelerator program knew that in many ways these hallway moments captured the crux of the two-day program.
Nothing was more important than being in the room — or, at times, the hallway — where it happened. Proximity to the league’s decision makers was paramount.
And a year ago, an opportunity like this was no guarantee.
Just one week before the date on which the NFL schedule listed its 2025 accelerator program would take place, the league announced
Meet the NFL’s evolving plans to address historical league trends while complying with changing laws.
As the candidate pool expands and scrutiny of NFL employment policy heightens, what was the goal of the accelerator program in 2026?
“Our goal, I feel, has always been to support the development and advancement of all talent in our organization …” NFL senior vice president of league leadership and inclusion Jonathan Beane told Yahoo Sports. “When I think about our values and I think about what our commitment is — which is us continuing to get better as an organization, have better business solutions, be more innovative — that requires us to develop our people. That requires us to develop all of our people. We stand by that. We’re very comfortable with that.
“It’s a strong framework and it’s been very beneficial for us.”
NFL simultaneously under fire for too much, too little support of minorities
On Tuesday afternoon, Bills general manager Brandon Beane and Tampa Bay Buccaneers general manager Jason Licht descended a spiral staircase together into a breakout session.
Pittsburgh Steelers general manager Omar Khan would join their conference room as well. Nearby, Houston Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans and Cincinnati Bengals head coach Zac Taylor fronted a second room.
This was a chance for the 18 front-office participants and 16 coaching participants to ask questions of men in roles within their reach.
Neither the racial makeup of the current leaders (two of five minorities) nor the racial makeup of the participants (half) in these closed-door meetings reflected the current racial makeup of the league’s head coaches and general managers.
Twenty-seven of the NFL’s 32 head coaches and 27 of their general managers (or de facto GMs, for teams without one) are white men. That means only 15.6% of the league’s most coveted roles feature racial diversity. And in a league traditionally composed of about 70% Black players, just 10.9% of head coaches and GMs are Black. Therein lies the challenge of the NFL discerning how best to promote equal opportunity. While equal opportunity does not always create equal outcomes — and the legal defensibility of giving minorities additional resources in the hope of promoting equality is under legal fire — many at the NFL have considered the league’s diversity programs as a way to level rather than skew the playing field.
In fact, the Florida subpoena means the NFL is now simultaneously allegations of discrimination for giving minorities too much support and allegations of discrimination (from Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores) for not giving them enough.
“The League office maintains policies to promote fair competition and the integrity of the game …” Ted Ullyot, the NFL’s executive vice president and general counselor, wrote Uthmeier in a May 1 letter obtained by Yahoo Sports. “The NFL strives to have the best talent in the sports world — both on and off the field — by ensuring that its clubs build the broadest possible pool of talented, qualified individuals from a wide range of backgrounds to be considered for open positions.”
The league argued in its letter that the Rooney Rule “expands” rather than “deprives” anyone of opportunities, governing the interview process but not the hiring process. The league dissolved its program requiring each NFL team to hire a minority or female offensive assistant; that, too, was an addition to coaching staffs rather than a requirement for existing staff makeups. And the Rooney Rule, which the league defended in the letter and is now defending in response to a subpoena from Uthmeier, does not satisfy the Florida Civil Rights Act criterion of “an adverse employment action,” Ullyot wrote.
“The league defines ‘diversity’ expansively to include the ‘broad range of human differences among us,’” he added.
The defense of the 2026 NFL accelerator program was simpler: It now serves minority as well as nonminority candidates. That was just one of several changes to this year’s iteration.
NFL still aims for accelerator to serve ‘underrepresented groups’ amid changes
After previous accelerator programs featured candidates from a wide range of career levels, the NFL drilled down on creating a narrower focus.
“We wanted to make it a little more strict and elevated, really focusing on top talent that are really positioned to get that top position,” Beane said.
Thirteen of the 16 coaching participants had reached at least the NFL coordinator level, while 14 of 18 front-office participants are currently assistant general managers.
The league asked each team to submit candidates for consideration, ideally one front-office candidate and one coaching candidate. Those candidates could be from a nominator’s own staff or others. A current NFL head coach, general manager and team president then reviewed the list to determine which of the roughly 60 candidates best fit the program, Beane said. That trio also had the ability to recommend names if they felt it was warranted. Ultimately, participants represented 23 of the 32 teams.
And the makeup of a group split evenly between minorities and nonminorities was not purely coincidental.
“When we sent a note to the clubs, we reiterated the fact that that mission of providing that opportunity for underrepresented groups, but also this program provides opportunities for all groups,” Beane said. “But we still want to support that aspiration that we always had to ensure that there is access and opportunity for everyone to compete for these very elite, exclusive roles.
“And when they do compete, they are prepared.”
On the first day of the accelerator program, participants heard from Yum! Brands CEO David Novak, who took the restaurant company from $4 billion to $32 billion in revenue under his leadership. They learned from former law enforcement officer Jamie Winship about his experience in the CIA and in Middle East conflict resolution. And they heard from former Houston Texans general manager Rick Smith.
In the evening, their networking event was restricted to just accelerator participants. Several touted the benefit of getting to meet counterparts across the coach-front office divide. In the coming years, each may be asked as head coaches and general managers to suggest counterpart candidates. The league hopes not just the team owners, but also the 34 participants, will all now have more perspective on the talent pool.
One candidate could be hired even before the season, as four of the Minnesota Vikings’ initial general manager candidates attended the accelerator.
“I’m meeting people here in general because I think this accelerator program does great work,” Vikings team owner Mark Wilf told Yahoo Sports. “Some of them are candidates for our GM search, and I’ll have informal conversations with them. But of course the meat of the conversations are in the interviews and spending time in the facility and getting to know them really better.”
How will NFL measure accelerator program success?
On May 13, Uthmeier responded to the league’s letter with a subpoena. He said the NFL’s defense of its policies, and updating of certain online descriptions to reflect its policies, raised new concerns.
Either the NFL was at one point trying to “increase the number of minorities hired,” Uthmeier said, quoting an archived version of the league’s since-updated online Rooney Rule description, or the league was misrepresenting that goal. The prior would violate civil rights concerns, per Uthmeier, while the latter would create legal questions pursuant to Florida deception law.
In a 15-page subpoena obtained by Yahoo Sports, Uthmeier ordered the NFL to appear in his office of Civil Rights on June 12 with a lengthy list of documents that would chronicle the history of NFL diversity policies, including the Rooney Rule and the accelerator program.
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell addressed the legal scrutiny Tuesday in Orlando.
“I think we have been very clear about our programs and that we obviously evaluate them all the time, not just for how they get better, but also to make sure that they’re consistent with law,” Goodell said. “We’re engaging with the Florida attorney general. We continue to share everything we’re doing with them. We think it’s certainly within law, but also something very positive.”
That includes the revamped accelerator program, which will be expanded to include virtual follow-up programming for the first time. Accelerator participants will have access to individualized coaching, as well as sessions with current and former head coaches and GMs, Beane said.
That continuation of the program reflects, in some ways, the continuous lens through which Beane will consider if the program was successful. Success will not be judged solely by the number of participants hired to head coach and general manager roles, he said. Participants entering top leadership positions with stronger networks and a better foundation to succeed will constitute success as well.
“I wish – I know – I am positive that many people that are participants of this program will be GMs and head coaches,” Beane said. “I know that. And of course we’d love that. We’d love for everybody who aspires to get that.
“But to me, I guess my approach is more individual in terms of looking at each individual and providing them with a special opportunity to really go to the next level in terms of their own leadership development and confidence.”
The opportunity is no longer available exclusively to minorities. But Goodell and his office continue to believe that the accelerator program will help diverse candidates.
“Because there are a lot of candidates up there that are diverse that are getting the opportunity to prove themselves and to get exposure and to get an opportunity,” Goodell said. “So the people who are up there are the best of the best. They’re a very diverse group, but they’re the best of the best, and what we’re trying to do here is make them even better and give them opportunities.
“And that’s what I heard from them is that one, they appreciated the opportunity and two, it was helpful.”