The NFL is now requiring all 32 of its teams to hire either a minority or a female coach to their offensive staffs -- mandating that the new assistant work "closely" with teams' current head coaches.
The league announced the rule change on Monday ... explaining it wants the new assistants on the offensive side of the ball because it believes owners and GMs have trended toward hiring new head coaches from offensive backgrounds as opposed to defensive ones.
The belief, according to a statement from the league, is that getting more minorities and women into significant positions on offensive staffs could then lead to more minority and female head coaching hires.
"In recent years, head coaches have predominantly had offensive backgrounds," the league said Monday. "We believe this resolution will assist greatly in continuing to source and identify diverse candidates earlier in their career."
Teams will have to make the hires at the beginning of this season ... though clubs who already have a minority or a female on their offensive staff are already considered to have fulfilled the requirement.
The NFL announced the new coaches' salaries will be paid for by a "league-wide fund."
The rule change comes less than two months after Roger Goodell promised the league would re-evaluate its hiring process rules in the wake of the Brian Flores lawsuit.