The number of minority head coaches in the NFL is back up to an all-time high

Prior to the 2017 NFL season, the Denver Broncos hired Vance Joseph and the Los Angeles Chargers hired Anthony Lynn to be their respective head coaches. Those two coaches were the latest additions to a growing number of minority coaches in the NFL.

After the 2002 season, the NFL instituted the "Rooney Rule," requiring NFL teams to interview minority candidates for vacant head coaching positions. At the time, there was one minority head coach. Over the next eight years, that number grew, peaking in 2011 at eight. However, in recent years the number had been dropping again and there was a growing concern that the pipeline was drying up with the retirement of Tony Dungy (who had previously mentored a number of young, minority coaches) and with so few minority coordinators in the NFL, especially on the offensive side of the ball.

But after dropping to just four minority coaches in 2013, the number is again rising, and is now once again back up to eight, including seven African-American coaches.

Mike Nudelman/Business Insider

NOW WATCH: What it's like to go into sudden death with Tiger Woods