The NFL’s Accelerator Program is back in Orlando with 34 coaches and front-office staff, including Josh McCown, Mike Kafka and Catherine Hickman, and it’s stirring fresh debate about how the league develops future head coaches and general managers. The program, launched in 2022 and paused amid legal and political pushback, was built to get promising candidates in front of club owners, but its early design and modest hiring results keep the conversation lively around who really benefits.
The Accelerator was pitched as a fast lane to the NFL’s top jobs, a way to “build a stronger pipeline of talent to the league’s most senior coaching and front office positions by providing leadership development and opportunities for networking directly with club owners.” That idea sounded simple enough: give bright coaches and front-office people direct access to decision makers and hope more of them get hired.
But the program’s rollout became tangled up in identity politics and legal scrutiny because, in its first year, access to owner meetings was limited by race and gender categories. That bright plan turned into a headline that glows in neon: “Black or White.” Critics argued it excluded white men and violated the idea of open competition, while supporters insisted it addressed deeply rooted hiring imbalances.
The league paused the initiative last year after outside pressure and probes, then reopened it with a new approach: clubs can send representatives regardless of race. This year’s cohort of 34 will meet with owners in Orlando, and the roster now includes 18 White participants, 14 Black participants and two biracial participants. Opening it up aimed to blunt legal attacks and broaden the optics, but questions about effectiveness remain.
Effectiveness matters because the program’s track record so far is modest. Only one head coach, Aaron Glenn, and two general managers, Ran Carthon and Ian Cunningham, were hired after taking part in earlier versions. That raises the blunt, unavoidable point that handing someone into a room with owners is helpful only if the pipeline actually produces hires at the top levels where power sits.
Family connections also show up in the mix. Some participants come from NFL families or have close relatives already in the league’s decision circles, and that reality keeps the conversation about access complicated. Names like Mike Bradway, Adam Berry and John McKay pop up when people talk about how relationships and pedigree still matter when teams think about trust and fit.
The roster of attendees reads like a who’s who across NFL staffs. Jeff Ulbrich from the Atlanta Falcons, Terrance Gray from the Buffalo Bills, Dan Pitcher from the Cincinnati Bengals, and Catherine Hickman from the Cleveland Browns are all on the list, with Glenn Cook also representing Cleveland. Klayton Adams is attending from the Dallas Cowboys while Cam Williams is listed for the Denver Broncos alongside Darren Rizzi and David Shaw, and Mike Kafka and Mike McCown show up among the coaching hopefuls.
Other participants include Milt Hendrickson with the Green Bay Packers, Chris Blanco and Nick Caley from the Houston Texans, James Liipfert also with Houston, and Chris Hewitt with the Indianapolis Colts. Grant Udinski is listed with the Jacksonville Jaguars, and Eric Bieniemy appears for the Kansas City Chiefs along with Mike Bradway. Chad Alexander and Mike McDaniel are connected to the Los Angeles Chargers, and John McKay and Nate Sheelhaase represent the Los Angeles Rams contingent.
The Minnesota Vikings send Josh McCown, and the New England Patriots list Terrell Williams among their attendees. Brandon Brown and Adam Berry are on the New York Giants and Philadelphia Eagles rosters respectively, while R.J. Gillen and Josh Williams are listed for the San Francisco 49ers. The Seattle Seahawks have Aden Durde and Nolan Teasley in the program, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Tennessee Titans and Washington Commanders have Mike Greenberg, Dan Sagany and Daronte Jones and Lance Newmark involved.
That lineup mixes experienced coordinators, former head coaches and front-office operators, which is exactly the point: the league wants a mix of backgrounds to see who can step into bigger roles. Still, the number of Accelerator participants who translated the experience into major promotions was low, and skeptics say the league needs more than a meeting room to change entrenched hiring habits.
There are practical considerations too: club owners make decisions based on perceived readiness, fit with organizational culture, and past results. Programs like Accelerator can open doors, but they do not replace long resumes, trusted references, or the instincts of owners who are ultimately accountable for wins and losses.
