By Michael Marot
The Associated Press

INDIANAPOLIS - When James Harris retired as an NFL quarterback two decades ago, no team would hire him as an assistant coach. Now he's one of the NFL's few top black executives, the new vice president of player personnel for the Jacksonville Jaguars. But Harris thinks the league has work to do in minority hiring.

"We're talking about African-Americans, but we're also talking about the best candidate to get the job," Harris said. "In some cases, where an African-American is the best candidate, he's still not getting the job."

Harris ate dinner Wednesday night with commissioner Paul Tagliabue. Among Tagliabue's other guests were the NFL's three black head coaches: Tony Dungy of the Colts, Herman Edwards of the Jets, and Marvin Lewis of the Bengals.

Among the topics was the NFL's new plan to promote minority hiring.

It requires teams to interview at least one minority candidate for coaching vacancies. But the Detroit Lions were unable to get a minority to talk to them after it became clear they were ready to hire ex-San Francisco coach Steve Mariucci.

Lewis is uncertain about what more can be done.

"Really, you cannot tell someone who to hire," he said. "When I put together my staff, I wanted to hire guys who I knew. You want to know what kind of stress he's under and how he handles stress."

Lewis and Harris both said they didn't blame candidates for not interviewing with Detroit. And Lewis didn't blame Detroit president Matt Millen for his quick decision on Mariucci.

"You have a man who is fighting for his job and he's got the right to hire his man," Lewis said. "But I don't think someone should take the interview if they knew who Matt was going to hire."

Several black assistants, including defensive coordinators Ted Cottrell of the Jets and Greg Blache of the Bears, have been interviewed for more than one head coaching job during the past two offseasons but neither was hired.

Blache and Cottrell were listed as finalists for the 49ers' job. But San Francisco wound up hiring Oregon State coach Dennis Erickson - the former Seahawks coach - who wasn't on their announced list of finalists.

Harris understands how difficult it can be to break down barriers.

He entered the league in 1969 and was one of the few black quarterbacks to play in the NFL then. In 1982, Harris tried to land a job as a quarterbacks coach but no teams were interested.

He finally got a job as a scout in the late 1980s, and worked his way up in the front offices of the Buccaneers, Jets and Ravens before taking the job in Jacksonville.

What Harris sees is disconcerting.

"I feel there are so many African-Americans in football that are qualified to run NFL teams and to coach NFL teams, and they aren't getting the opportunity," he said. "I think it's frustrating to the guys who have paid their dues."

The best solution, in Harris' opinion, is the one that may be the most complicated: Hiring more minorities in decision-making jobs will lead to the hiring of more minorities as coaches.

"I think it goes hand-in-hand, having balance in the league to make decisions," he said.

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