National Football League head coach race, performance, retention, and dismissal

Abstract

Highlights• Test for racial discrimination in the retention and dismissal of National Football League head coaches.• Statistically significant evidence that Non-White head coaches have longer employment spells in the Rooney Rule era.• Head coach employment tenure and dismissal are largely driven by raw performance and to a lesser degree, relative performance.• No statistically significant evidence that dismissal, raw performance, or relative performance differs by race.