NFL-Women ready to tackle football

By Deborah M. Todd SAN FRANCISCO, Feb 5 (Reuters) - The National Football League's plan to use existing diversity policy to bring more women into executive ranks has raised both applause and questions about the original policy's effectiveness. During its inaugural Women's Summit, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell announced Thursday that the league would expand its Rooney Rule, which requires teams seeking head coaches to interview at least one non-white candidate. From now on, women must be included among the candidate pool for executive positions. "We believe in diversity. We believe we're better as an organization when we have good people at the table," said Goodell. He lauded last year's appointment of Sarah Thomas as the league's first female official and the hiring of Jen Walter as its first female coach, saying "progress is being made" toward gender diversity. The atmosphere at the summit buzzed with speeches from the likes of Billie Jean King, Annika Sorenstam and Serena Williams, and there was widespread agreement that the change was refreshing if a bit overdue. "I think it's necessary. Could it have been done years ago? Probably for sure, but I'm glad Roger Goodell decided to do that," said Williams during a forum with Good Morning America anchor Robin Roberts. Anita Marks, a sports radio broadcaster with the New York Giants, said the move was positive but urged examination of the Rooney Rule's actual impact. Since the rule was introduced in 2003, the number of non-white head NFL coaches has increased from two to six. "As necessary as the Rooney Rule is it's unfortunate for whatever reason we're not seeing the percentages or the increases we thought it would accomplish," Marks said. Attempts to diversify from top-to-bottom could be a barrier for women in the same way it has been for non-white men in the NFL, said Christopher Rider, a Georgetown University business professor who examined the Rooney Rule in a joint study. The study found non-white candidates who had advanced to coaching coordinator positions were just as likely to get a head coaching job as their white counterparts but too few non-white coaches were promoted to that level to make a significant impact. "The Rooney Rule shapes the interview list but doesn't shape the candidate pool," said Rider. Facebook vice president of marketing Rebecca Van Dyck cringed upon hearing the slow progress of the original Rooney rule but said the policy is still a necessary first step. "It's like Title IV, putting some of these rules in place are not about immediate results but are about changing the mindset for generations to come," she said. (Editing by Andrew Both)