MOSCOW -- Russia is confident that most of its Olympic team will be able to compete in Rio de Janeiro, but the countrys efforts to reinstate banned athletes are a mixed bag.Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko on Friday told local media that 272 of the countrys athletes had been approved by international sports federations, out of an original team of 387. Mutko added that the number could rise.More than 100 Russian athletes have been excluded by sports federations, including a blanket ban on the track and field team and more than 30 rejected under new International Olympic Committee rules.After the World Anti-Doping Agency accused the Russian government of directing a vast doping cover-up, the IOC said it would not allow Russians to compete in Rio if they had previously been banned for doping, were implicated in the alleged cover-up or had not been tested often enough internationally.Most federations have not excluded Russians on the basis of a lack of testing, but rowing is the exception, having barred 19 Russians, most for insufficient tests. Testing in Russia does not count under IOC rules because of the repeated allegations made against Russias drug testing agency and national lab, both of which have been suspended.An appeal is being prepared against World Rowings decision at the Court of Arbitration for Sport, Russian Rowing Federation head Veniamin But told The Associated Press. That could send the 19 to Rio days before the Games start, if the case is heard and approved in time.Theyre now in Portugal, But said. Theyre training, and theyre ready to go.World Rowings approval process left just six rowers eligible to compete for Rio, meaning Russia could compete in only one event, the mens four. Reserve crews from around the world have rushed to Brazil to compete.There was good news for Russia on Friday, when the Russian Taekwondo Union said it had received notification from the World Taekwondo Federation that all three of its entries could compete in Rio.However, Russias best-known track and field athlete, two-time Olympic gold medalist Yelena Isinbayeva, said she had been refused in her final attempt to make the team for Rio following the blanket ban on Russia in that sport.Isinbayeva had applied again for an individual exemption but was refused by the IAAF, tracks world governing body.Unfortunately they didnt make an exception for me, she wrote on Instagram. They didnt admit me for the Olympics in Rio. The miracle didnt happen. Meyers Leonard Heat Jersey . -- The plastic that was taped across the lockers in Oaklands clubhouse came down and the champagne that was on ice went back into the cooler. 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A study of 2016 NFL coaching staffs shows that white coaches overwhelmingly fill the offensive positions associated with advancement to the head-coaching ranks, compromising the Rooney Rules efforts to reverse a recent trend.Eighty of the NFLs current 85 offensive coordinators, quarterbacks coaches and offensive-quality-control coaches are white, including all 37 with the word quarterback in their job descriptions. Minorities comprise one-third of NFL coaches overall, but they dominate positions less associated with advancement. This revelation comes after NFL teams hired 21 first-time white head coaches and one first-time minority head coach (Todd Bowles by the Jets) since 2012, a period of five hiring cycles.The good thing about the Rooney Rule was not that you had to interview a minority candidate but that it slowed the process down and made you do some research, former NFL head coach Tony Dungy said. But now it seems like in the last few years, people havent really done what the rule was designed for. It has become, Just let me talk to a couple minority coaches very quickly so I can go about the business of hiring the person I really want to hire anyway.The study of coaching staffs focused on football coaches, not coaches whose primary duties included strength, conditioning, performance or research. Using these criteria, the Carolina Panthers, New York Jets and Pittsburgh Steelers have the only staffs with at least 50 percent minorities, counting head coaches.Dungy lauded the Steelers in particular for dedicating the time andd resources necessary to research the head-coaching candidates who fit their organization.dddddddddddd The Rooney Rule, named for Steelers owner Dan Rooney, was adopted in 2003 and required teams to interview at least one minority candidate for head-coaching vacancies.Too frequently, we dont look at leadership, we dont look at getting the most out of people, we dont look at bringing people together and staffs together -- all those things that you need to be a head coach, Dungy said. It is an inexact science. It is done in an inexact way. Look how long it took Bruce Arians to get a head-coaching job; it is not just with minorities.But I think when you are a minority coach, you have even that added burden, or added handicap of not always being highly publicized. For owners who do not know what they are looking for, it is much easier to say, Well, Ill take Candidate A because at least everybody knows him and everybody will say this is a good hire.Said a minority coach, Everybody will tell you, it is a damn game to try to get with these owners and figure out what they want. Sometimes they want what the fans want or the media wants -- an offensive guy or maybe an experienced guy, which rules out a lot of candidates, especially minority candidates. We dont care as long as it is even. But when there are different standards applied, then that doesnt sit well. It is part of our reality, but it doesnt sit well. ' ' '