Coaching Pipeline: Ted Cottrell knows the struggle for jobs

By BARRY WILNER
AP Pro Football Writer

In the late 1990s, then-NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue initiated meetings with minority assistant coaches throughout the league. Tagliabue sought input on why so few of them were being considered for head coaching and even coordinator positions. One of the men he met with was Ted Cottrell, whose defenses in Buffalo were so prepared and efficient that they dominated an AFC East that included Dan Marino quarterbacking the Miami Dolphins. Cottrell, who never landed that head coach position despite coordinating some superb defenses for the Bills, Jets, Vikings and Chargers, recalls Tagliabue’s passion for equity in hiring; the uneven playing field in which Cottrell and his Black peers were working; and Cottrell’s own outspokenness when asked about the inequitable situation.