I would call it cautious optimism, as NFL teams start to submit formal request slips to interview coach and GM candidates. Along with Rod Graves, head of the MMOEXP LEGIT Fritz Pollard Alliance, which operates with the NFL in the pursuit of greater diversity in the coaching and management ranks.

"A lot of credit goes to (Commissioner) Roger Goodell and (VP of football operations) Troy Vincent for the feeling of urgency that has developed about this problem over the previous 8-to-12 months"

There's not anything to winner before we see the final outcome of these searches, but it seems more than lip service is being paid into The Rooney Rule, and there's a sense within the groups doing the hiring which the time for words is over -- this league must be equitable in who gets to sit in positions of power within the sport, and, finally, just the owners themselves may change this.

Knowledgeable coaches like Marvin Lewis and executives like Rick Smith seem really poised at this point to have a valid opportunity with numerous teams. There's hope that 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh and Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy will have better luck this time around.

The team has become more competitive, proactive and consistent with its messaging to groups about the need to alter how they have been doing business, and I have heard repeatedly from those doing the hiring, and people who represent many of the top candidates, that the nature of this cycle will in fact be different.

"I've never felt that a vibe similar to this before," said one prominent agent. "I think Goodell has put down the hammer and these teams are receiving the message."

Before Graves has broached the topic of pushing all hires back till after the Super Bowl to try to level the playing area for this in and beyond the match, providing the rules that regulate the game. However, so many coaches and GMs being let go in-season this year -- creating a more robust cycle of interviews while games were still being played is a dynamic that also could foster diversity.

"The early decisions being made by owners, in an effort to get a head start, may become more of a fad moving ahead," Graves explained.

Obviously, this isn't about one hiring cycle, or one blip. It is about a path correction in the way owners think and function. And Graves wishes to expand the range of the thinking into all facets under the NFL's umbrella: NFL Films, NFL Media, and all ventures of the sort. He, and many others, want to see exactly the buy Madden nfl 21 coins exact same management-level opportunities provided in those ventures also, and is currently working on a demonstration to this end for its spring meeting in March.