MLK would be ashamed

[MikeHamiltonFan]

A positive development on the coaching front
For years, college administrators have taken heat for the lack of minority head coaches in the FBS ranks. For years, the number hovered around four or five (out of 119) before four new minority hires last offseason improved the total to seven. It appears the trend is continuing for a second straight year.

With Virginia expected to announce Richmond coach Mike London, an African-American, as its next coach at a press conference Monday, it means all three new hires to date have been minorities (the others: Willie Taggart at Western Kentucky, Larry Porter at Memphis) with a fourth, Charlie Strong, expected imminently at Louisville. If both the London and Strong hires happen, it will increase the total number of FBS minority head coaches to 11.

In the grand scheme of things, 11 out of 120 is still an extremely low percentage (9.2 percent). But these things don't change overnight, and the fact that the number will more than double in just two hiring cycles is a notable landmark.

London and Strong would also be important hires due to the fact that after the 2008 dismissals of Washington's Tyrone Willingham and Mississippi State's Sylvester Croom, Miami's Randy Shannon had become the lone minority head coach among the 66 BCS-conference schools, an incredible burden to carry.

Seven other schools still have vacancies to fill, with others likely to follow from the inevitable domino effect (which will presumably start at Notre Dame).



Read more: Alabama-Texas could be a mismatch, more college bowl thoughts - Stewart Mandel - SI.com

Somehow Mandel thinks that Shannon is carrying a burden for his entire race...

We will know that real progress has been made when professional race baiters are out of business and all coaches are judged as Croom asked to be at the conference announcing his hiring, by wins and losses and not with the caveat that they are part of one group or another.

 

[dantheman617]

What ever happened to hiring the most qualified applicant?

 

[rowsdower]

I agree, in part, the best applicant should get the job no matter what.

I think the discrepancy is that the coaches coaching today played when football was still a white-majority sport. Now days, that's just not the case and as this next generation rises into coaching ages you'll see more and even more African-American coaches.

 

[manfromtn]

OMG, why does skin color have to be a part of everything? We have a black (AA for those who want me to be pc) president, for God's sake. In college football, you must hire the best coach, not the best minority coach. If he is a minority, so be it.

 

[cibai]

What ever happened to hiring the most qualified applicant?

I think that is the question Charlie Strong has been asking for a few years now.

 

[GVF]

I think that is the question Charlie Strong has been asking for a few years now.

In Charlie Strongs case, there may be an argument. If I was an AD, I could give a flip what skin color he wears. I'd have hired him long ago. One of the best around in my book, period.

 

[VolBuck24]

I think that is the question Charlie Strong has been asking for a few years now.

Very true. Plus Turner Gill the past few years too.

 

[kptvol]

Very true. Plus Turner Gill the past few years too.

Turner Gill has one winning season out of four. He's doing a good job, but it's not like it's a travesty he hasn't been offered the Notre Dame job.

 

[utvolpj]

In Charlie Strongs case, there may be an argument. If I was an AD, I could give a flip what skin color he wears. I'd have hired him long ago. One of the best around in my book, period.

where's the proof CS would be a good HC? Has he even entertained the idea of taking the head job at a smaller school to build his resume? There are better prospects out there with better resumes and CS has chosen not to continue his education.

 

[VolBuck24]

Turner Gill has one winning season out of four. He's doing a good job, but it's not like it's a travesty he hasn't been offered the Notre Dame job.

Just any bigger coaching job not necessarily notre dame. The one winning season was at buffalo probably the worst program in fbs before he got there. If you win there or even go 5-7 like he did this year has to be considered a success.

 

[kptvol]

Just any bigger coaching job not necessarily notre dame. The one winning season was at buffalo probably the worst program in fbs before he got there. If you win there or even go 5-7 like he did this year has to be considered a success.

Cutcliffe will has won 9 games in 2 years at Duke. That's 6 years worth of wins for the Blue Devils. No one is beating his door down either.

 

[VolBuck24]

Cutcliffe will has won 9 games in 2 years at Duke. That's 6 years worth of wins for the Blue Devils. No one is beating his door down either.

That is obviously not Cutcliffe's first coaching job though.

 

[The Dude]

I don't see how racism can be blindly dismissed when only 4-5% of college coaches are black, while half of college football players are black and 70 percent of pro guys are black.

 

[VOLnMiami]

What ever happened to hiring the most qualified applicant?

Thats what I say...The color of skin means nothing if you are not the right person for the job...But I guess some people just need to complain about something :shakehead:

 

[VOLnMiami]

I don't see how racism can be blindly dismissed when only 4-5% of college coaches are black, while half of college football players are black and 70 percent of pro guys are black.

What exactly does that have to do with anything? :blink: Some people study the game a little harder than others and choose a career in coaching because they are GOOD at it....Just because you played the game does not qualify you to be a head coach.

 

[droski]

some guys just don't do good in interviews i.e.

norm chow
charlie strong
ron rivera

 

[The Dude]

What exactly does that have to do with anything? :blink: Some people study the game a little harder than others and choose a career in coaching because they are GOOD at it.

I have a hard time believing that whites desire to be coaches more so than blacks or that skin color determines if you're a good coach.

Just because you played the game does not qualify you to be a head coach.

You could probably count the number of D1 head coaches who didn't play college football on one hand.

 

[the.one.the.only]

Miami's Randy Shannon had become the lone minority head coach among the 66 BCS-conference schools, an incredible burden to carry.

hahahhaha. Wow what an incredible burden. I'm sure Shannon sits at home thinking "Man! I'm the only black head coach in the BCS conferences! Everybody's counting on me. I better not screw up."

I'm sure the burden Shannon has is to lead his Miami program to a NC. I doubt he gives a rat's ass about anything else. This whole black/white thing has played out. Nobody cares anymore. Any black man that doesn't get a head coaching job and blames racism is just butthurt that they didn't get the job.

 

[droski]

You could probably count the number of D1 head coaches who didn't play college football on one hand.

you could probably also count the number who were stars on one hand.

 

[Vercingetorix]

I don't see how racism can be blindly dismissed when only 4-5% of college coaches are black, while half of college football players are black and 70 percent of pro guys are black.

Schools aren't making overtly racist hiring decisions, necessarily, but the numbers clearly indicate that there's a bias in the overall system. If I hire the coach whom I sincerely think is best guy for the job, and you hire your best candidate, and 100 other ADs hire their favorite candidates too, but 97 out of the 100 coaches end up being white guys, than it's pretty clear that skin color is a factor somehow.

People will shut up about it when you start seeing a reasonable number black head coaches on the sidelines at traditional football powers. I don't doubt that that time's coming soon, as the old boosters start dying off and are replaced by guys who grew up when black people could actually use public restrooms and water fountains, but it's not here yet.

 

[The Dude]

you could probably also count the number who were stars on one hand.

Yep.

 

[VOLnMiami]

I have a hard time believing that whites desire to be coaches more so than blacks or that skin color determines if you're a good coach.

Thats not what I'm saying...Some people study harder to be a coach than a player...Be it black or white...Some are just better than others...No racisim intended or implied...Race wasn't an issue when Tyrone Willingham was hired at Notre Dame or Croom at Miss St and lots of others...I just honestly think its being overblown with the race issue...If the person in question was the right coach there would be no issue at all...Strong appears to be the next coach at Louisville...No race issue there and he bellyached about race more than anyone.. Just saying

 

[MikeHamiltonFan]

I don't see how racism can be blindly dismissed when only 4-5% of college coaches are black, while half of college football players are black and 70 percent of pro guys are black.

This statistic is stupid.

How can a statistic be stupid? When it is misleading. Playing pro football in no way means you are a good coach. Peyton Manning has the intellect to be a great coach but may not be a good teacher at all in that things that come easily for him may not come easily for others at all.

Race should not be a factor in coaching hires period. Racism is evil and wrong, but there is not a huge number of qualified minority coaches being denied an opportunity.

There is also an interesting conversation to be had about affirmative action and its impact on law school and the mismatch problem created.

ND will be a tough job for anyone, it would be foolish to say Ty W is not a good coach because he failed there.

Turner Gil is struggling at Buffallo. He will need to demonstrate some mastery before moving on.

Charlie Strong may be ready to do a fantastic job at Louisville, and that job, the Memphis job etc are better potentials for turning out well than if someone takes over ND.

By the way, I always felt from the start that Croom was a great coach heading in to a bad spot. Winning at Ms. State is almost impossible in the SEC.

There are more white guys in high school basketball than black. Does that mean that colleges and NBA teams are racist for having so few white guys? No...statistics that look for racism are frustrating and often idiotic.

 

[droski]

hard to have many black head coaches when there aren't many black offensive and defensive coordinators. maybe the true racists (if they exist) are the existing college football coaches. there are plenty of programs who would LOVE to hire a minority coach.

 

[the.one.the.only]

This actually reminds me of something that happened where I work. It's at a pool, and all patrons are required to wear swim suits and not regular clothes. Well, it just so happens that a majority of the people that come to swim in a public pool without swim trunks are hispanics, and naturally we have to kick them out of the pool for not wearing the right attire. It wasn't long before these hispanic families were crying racism when they got kicked out of the pool, when if they had just come with swim suits, they would be allowed to swim. The pool wasn't set up to keep hispanics away, it just happened like that. Same thing with these coaching searches. AD's want the best for their programs, regardless of color. Screaming racism is just an excuse for not getting what you want...