No fewer than 128 football coaches around the country will be participating in the Bill Walsh Diversity Coaching Fellowship with NFL teams the next couple of months.
Two of those coaches work for the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.
Oscar Rodriguez
Chris CookThe Mocs’ Oscar Rodriguez headed to Chicago on Monday to work with the Bears during their veteran mini-camp this week. Chris Cook will work with the Falcons in their veteran mini-camp next week.
According to its website, the Bill Walsh Diversity Coaching Fellowship was designed as a “vocational tool to increase the number of full-time NFL minority coaches,” with all NFL clubs participating each year. Specific aspects of the program – including hiring, compensation and coaching duties – are administered on a club-by-club basis.
While not mandating any elements of the fellowship to the clubs, the NFL recommends several best practices, including hiring participants for the duration of training camp, including all preseason games; encouraging clubs to hire a minimum of four participants, with at least two of them having an offensive coaching background; and mentoring participants in the form of continuing and constructive feedback regarding their work while with the club.