Truth & Rumors > NCAAF

African American coaches losing ground

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Days after the election of the country's first black president, a study shows the number of African American coaches in major college football is the lowest in 15 years. With the recent dismissals of Ty Willingham at Washington and Ron Prince at Kansas State, the number of black head coaches in the 119-school NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision was reduced to four. In 1997, there were eight black head coaches, the most in history. In 1993, there were three. Fifty-five percent of all student athletes are minorities. The report by the Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport at the University of Central Florida polled every major college on the ethnicity of its coaches, athletic directors, presidents, faculty, student athletes and NCAA faculty representatives.

Associated Press

Ron Prince, Brian Bahr/Getty Images Ron Prince, Brian Bahr/Getty Images
November 7, 2008  08:39 AM ET

A coach should get hired or fired based upon talent not skin color. IMO I think this story is just trying to pull the BS race card

November 7, 2008  09:29 AM ET

at what point does a man stop being black and start being white, because honestly ron prince doesn't look black at all, if there wasn't all this talk of him being an african american coach i never would have guessed he was black at all.

November 7, 2008  10:18 AM ET

Can't win? Can't coach...its as simple as that. Anyone that thinks a sub .500 record is acceptable is an idiot.

November 7, 2008  11:04 AM ET

Winning and/or losing does not discriminate...However, unless something blatantly wrong happens, every new hire should get 4 or 5 years to get their system and recruits in place.

November 7, 2008  12:49 PM ET
QUOTE(#4):

Winning and/or losing does not discriminate...However, unless something blatantly wrong happens, every new hire should get 4 or 5 years to get their system and recruits in place.

If you've ever managed people you will understand that it doesn't take 4/5 years to determine if someone can't do their job. At a senior managment level it usually becomes evident within a year or two if the person is not qualified.
Sometimes it is not so obvious so quickly, there are question marks but not enough to make a decision, and it make take another year or so. But if you wait four or five years before deciding someone isn't cutting it in a management position then you aren't doing your job.
Hire slowly, and fire quickly!

November 7, 2008  01:08 PM ET

I've made these comments before but here I go. How many black coaches are paying their dues by coaching Pop Warner, Jr High, JV, Varsity, or even JUCO? You just can't walk in and get a head coaching job without the resume to back it up. Being a former player doesn't cut it, it takes time to develop ALL the skills it takes to fill the job. These programs generate millions of dollars, Colleges would be irresponsible if they gave the job to someone undeserving and unqualified for the position, the stakes are too high. If you make a mistake (like ND did) it can take years to recover and get back on track!

November 7, 2008  01:13 PM ET
QUOTE(#1):

A coach should get hired or fired based upon talent not skin color. IMO I think this story is just trying to pull the BS race card

I agree, skin color should not be the basis to hire or fire, just results, integrity, ability etc.
this is just silly nonsense. "The report by the "Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sports"
Oh come on, that title alone sounds biased.

God Bless America and Our Troops

November 7, 2008  01:39 PM ET

Now the race card will be played more and more seeing that the dum **** put a joke inthe white no black house.

November 7, 2008  02:21 PM ET

OK. So in your opinion do you think Weis is qualified? what about Rich Rod? Spurrier? "Managing people" between the ages of 18-22 is a different paradigm than the corporate world. New coach[es],new system [playbook],quality of previous recruiting that may or may not integrate into your system etc..3/4 years evaporates quickly with these environments. I understand and know what you're saying but [especially at this level on manhood] tenure and/or system needs to be in place before anyone can be trained to learn that system....and in that time frame the next thing you know you're either in the BCS or looking for another coach. Penn State will go through this in the very near future just like ND,USC,Alabama,LSU,Oklahoma,Texas,Nebraska etc.. all the years before. It's not an easy science to get the right fit at the right time regardless of race.

November 7, 2008  03:26 PM ET

ron prince is black, sort of like obama huh?

November 7, 2008  05:17 PM ET

It is a statistical fact. Hard to argue with that. So much for diversity at the educational institutions of America. Obviously, even if unintended, there is a problem.

November 7, 2008  05:32 PM ET

Who is qualified? The person who hires is the person who determines someone's qualifications, it's their decision alone.

November 7, 2008  09:31 PM ET

Sorry but Prince doesn't look black, how does that work, 10% 50% or what

November 7, 2008  10:20 PM ET
QUOTE(#13):

Sorry but Prince doesn't look black, how does that work, 10% 50% or what

Ron Prince with his color has to win 8 games a year.. Ty Willingham has to win 5 games a year...

It is a double standard that should not continue, oh wait they are both out...

November 7, 2008  10:21 PM ET
QUOTE(#8):

Now the race card will be played more and more seeing that the dum **** put a joke inthe white no black house.

Huh? Please explain...

November 7, 2008  10:23 PM ET
QUOTE(#10):

ron prince is black, sort of like obama huh?

meaning what?

November 7, 2008  11:22 PM ET

"Fifty-five percent of all student athletes are minorities." Big deal.

Coleges would hire Satan if he could win them 10+ games a year. The idea that racism is keeping black coaches from getting jobs is just stupid.

November 8, 2008  01:21 AM ET

What a terrible study. Any group of random college students that completed Psychology 101 can find racism in every facet of American culture. In the military there is a quota for minorities to get promoted. When you put numbers on race, or any other alleged "discrimination," the lesser qualififed make the cut. College coaches are just as bad as pro players now, leaving teams mid-season if they feel so. That is how cut-throat the college game has become. If you are an African-American homosexual female amputee but can coach a hell of a game, you'll have a job. If you can't win, you can't win. This group should do a net study of the number of white coaches fired to black coaches over the past ten years. Then their headline would read something like "75000% more white coaches than black fired over the past ten years" Any statistic can be twisted to meet the author's intent. Don't read into dumb statistics like this America.

November 8, 2008  04:29 AM ET
QUOTE(#10):

ron prince is black, sort of like obama huh?

I believe the politically correct term is "off white".

 
November 9, 2008  05:15 PM ET

I for one would love to see more opportunities made available to black coaches to lead college football programs. But the head coaching fraternity does remain a bit of a good-old-boy network and, sadly, boosters who are predominately white help to exacerbate this problem through their external pressure on ADs and college presidents regarding new hires. In this short reply forum, it is very hard to even consider all of the prevailing influences which have limited those head coaching opportunities to so few African American coaches over the years.

With that said, once availed the opportunity, all coaches - including Prince, Willingham, Bowden & Fulmer - must stand on their win-lose record and upon the school's expectation of winning. All of them - white or black - were deemed substandard & were fired by their respective Universities!

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