Let me hit you with the facts:
There are 50.4% of African-American players at FBS schools in 2009.
There were 7 African American coaches out of 120 FBS schools in 2009.
Out of those 7, only 1 of those coaches was at a school that was BCS eligible. (Randy Shannon, University of Miami-ACC) .0083 of the coaches.
At the end of the 2009, 5 new black coaches were hired.
There are now 3 coaches at BCS eligible schools. (Turner Gill, Kansas-Big XII; Charlie Strong, Louisville-Big East; Randy Shannon, University of Miam-ACC) making it now .025% of coaches at BCS eligible schools.
In The FBS which consist of 120 teams...
100% of conference commissioners are white.
86% of Athletic Directors are white.
93.3% of FBS presidents are white.
92.6% of Faculty Athletic reps are white.
This brings up a very interesting point. African Americans are well represented on the field, but not represented in leadership roles.
There are now questions starting to loom over the head of the NCAA. Are they forcing the hand of universities to interview qualified African-American coaches, but already have their candidate that they want in mind? Are African-American coaches getting a fair chance in the NCAA? Are African Americans in general getting a fair chance PERIOD in the NCAA? Based on the numbers of above, I would say no.
Charlie Strong was the staple of a Florida defense that was consistently ranked in the top 10 in the country at the end of the season. National championships were on his resume'. But he was passed over job after job after job. Now after years of being a wonderful coach, he is rewarded with a job.
At Louisville...
How could the conference that he dominated for so many years turn their back on him when NUMEROUS job vacancies became available?
Turner Gill turned Buffalo, who before he got there was the cellar of the FBS, into a conference winner. Turner Gil was one of the hottest names in the profession. Yet he gets passed up on a job at Auburn for a coach with a 5-19 resume in the Big XII? Yet the coach that comes in after him is winning with the same players. It is scary to think what could have been with Turner Gil at Auburn....
Makes you wonder if the fact that they are in interracial marriage was too much for boosters to handle down in the SOUTHeastern Conference?
The numerous other job opportunities that were missed. It would have bought tears to numerous Alabama fans eyes that ARE African-American to see Sylvester Croom on the sideline as the first Black head coach at their beloved U of A. To know that George Wallace attempted to deny people of color passage into the university to say that we now have an African-American coach running the team would have been amazing. Yet he was passed up for Shula. We all know the ending to that story.
And to see the small representation of minorities in leadership roles such as presidents or athletic directors. There are NONE as conference commissioners. Some things just aren't adding up. African-Americans do NOT need affirmative action. They need a fair chance.
Someone needs to be held accountable. More spotlight needs to be bought upon college football and its racial practices. It seems that the boosters run the schools and make the decisions on what's best for the team... and not the people put into place to do what's best for the university.
(Info found from PDF file from TIDES (The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sports)
