Introduced as Cleveland's new defensive coordinator on Tuesday, Horton said while he's "disappointed" that he didn't get a head coaching job after interviewing with several teams, he's grateful to have gone through the process and feels the league's Rooney Rule to promote minorities works despite contrary statistics. Minority candidates were shut out of 15 coaching and top front-office jobs this offseason, a troubling disparity that led to criticism of the NFL's hiring practices. There are only four minority head coaches going into the 2013 season, the fewest since 2003, when the Rooney Rule was implemented. Horton, however, feels he wasn't bypassed because he's African-American or because wears his hair in tight braids. There's no doubt he's got the credentials. "I believe every NFL team owner is trying to get the best coach for their team," he said. "I don't think anybody goes into it thinking, `I'm going to hire this guy because of `X' reason other than he's going to lead the team to victories. So from that standpoint, I respect the process. So does it (the Rooney Rule) work or not work? I think it worked because I think every NFL team this year hired a guy that they thought was going to lead them to victory. I don't think there was one owner that said, `I'm hiring this guy because I think he's going to run my program into the ground.' So does it work? Sure it works." Source: Associated Press
