Accelerator candidates lose key owner interactions after NFL meeting schedule change

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Up until last week, the NFL's spring meetings in Orlando were set to take place next week on Tuesday and Wednesday. But in recent days those meetings were adjusted, and now NFL team owners will convene in Florida for just one full day of meetings on Tuesday (May 19).

In the process of changing the schedule of meetings that are typically a lighter load, the league has now scrunched the scheduling for the long-awaited and revamped Accelerator Program, the NFL's premier diversity program for head coach and general manager candidates.

The Accelerator Program was originally scheduled to begin Monday afternoon with programming throughout the days Monday and Tuesday. Tuesday night would see a networking reception for accelerator participants with NFL team owners and executives, followed by a small group dinner with ownership. Both the program and meetings would conclude Wednesday, with the ability for participants to still mingle with team owners through that time.

With the change to the schedule, programming will remain on Monday and Tuesday, but the interactions with NFL team owners and executives will be limited only to a Tuesday lunch as currently scheduled. Because many team owners aren't slated to arrive in Orlando until Tuesday morning, the networking breakfast that is scheduled for accelerator participants is optional for team owners. The meetings will conclude by 6 p.m. Tuesday.

Sources within the league have called the schedule change an unfortunate coincidence. Some accelerator participants, all of whom are missing time from organized team activities to be at this program, tell CBS Sports they are weighing whether the trip is still worth it. The league has yet to issue a finalized list of participants, though the belief is there will be upwards of 30 coaches and front office members there.

Participants in the past have enjoyed their face time with NFL team owners, who ultimately will make the decisions on whether they will hire these participants to be their next head coach and GM. Feedback from the participants has been consistent that they would like more intentional time with these decision-makers at this program. Now, they will get less.

Last year the league paused this event after three years with various degrees of success. The NFL spent the downtime to reimagine the program. It said it would combine the two programs -- one for GM candidates in December and one for coaching candidates in May -- into one in May. And instead of being engineered for people who may get a top job within one to five years, the idea with this accelerator was to have people within a year or two from being a head coach or GM.

And earlier this year, the league announced that it would include white male candidates for the first time. This week's program is still expected to have a majority of minority candidates.

The reimagined program also plans to have education and touchpoints beyond just next week.

Since the program began in 2022, there has been one participant who went on to be a head coach and two who became GMs.