Lack of AfricanAmerican Head Football Coaches in Div' I Institutions

1
Lack of African-American Head Football Coaches in
Div. I Institutions

• Ryan Dunham
• Guy Phillips

2
Brief Synopsis and Background

• The representation of African-Americans in Div. I
  Football Head Coaching Positions is poor to say
  the least.
• Percentage of African-American/Minority Coaches
  in Sports
• NBA (37)
• NFL (19)
• MLB (30)
• NCAA Football (2.5)

3
Theories on Why This is a Problem Today

• Alumni and Boosters will not support the program
  if an African-American is the head coach
• Not that numerous of qualified assistants
  available for promotion.
• Ol Boy Network/Racial Discrimination
• Money
• To Big of a Risk for Institutions/Programs

4
Theories on Why This is a Problem Today
(Continued)

• Zero Second Chance Opportunities
• Its a Mystery
• Jumping Early to NFL/Not Getting Degree
• Its Not a Problem

5
False Justifications for not Hiring an
African-American Coach

• Expressing that African-Americans are plentiful
  as assistant coaches on their staff
• African-Americans are being considered for
  coordinator positions and should continue to pay
  their dues
• African-Americans are leaders in positions other
  than head coaches in athletic department
• Many other candidates were more qualified for the
  job
• African-Americans that applied needed more
  experience
• The campus community supported the internal hire
  that was promoted to head coach
• The head coach they selected was the best fit
  for the job
• Diversity has been improving

6
Ethical issues involved

• Respect
• Dishonesty
• Racism
• Fairness
• Sportsmanship
• Impartiality
• Accountability
• Stereotyping

7
Defining Moment

• African-American players have historically been
  denied access to participate on the field at all
  schools, until a defining moment. Sam Bam
  Cunningham dominated a 1971 contest between
  Alabama and the University of Southern California
  (USC). During the contest, Cunningham (Black)
  shined against the all-white Alabama team. The
  fans in attendance shouted Get us one, get us
  one. The next year Alabama allowed Wilbur
  Jackson (Black) to compete at the same position
  as Cunningham had represented. This was the
  historical moment the changed the game. It is
  often wondered what this moment will be for
  African-American head coaches in college football?

8
The Right Thing to Do

• Make the numbers more Representative of actual
  Participation!
• Report Card
• What is being looked at?
• How is each being scored?
• What does it each letter grade equal?
• Is it working?

9
(No Transcript)
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Examples of an F Grade

• recent examples of not having the right process
  are
• South Carolina
• Detroit Lions
• Examples of an A Grade
• (Ohio University)

11
Leadership Institute for Ethnic Minority Males

• Organizers have set up three primary components.
• The first part it called Advanced Coaching
  Program
• The second is called Expert Coaching Program
• the third is called Executive Coaching Program
• The NCAA contributed 180,000 and the NFL added
  70,000 towards the program.

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Objectives

• To increase the understanding and application of
  skills necessary to secure head coaching
  positions.
• To increase the understanding and awareness of
  competencies necessary for success in head
  coaching at the intercollegiate level.
• To motivate assistant coaches and coordinators to
  pursue careers as head coaches at the Division
  I-A level.
• To introduce ethnic minority football coaches to
  senior-level coaches and administrators through a
  mentoring program.
• To raise public awareness of the existing talent
  pool of ethnic minority football coaches.

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Advanced Coaching Program

• The Advanced Coaching Program, which is a
  three-day workshop, which is a three-day workshop
  to be conducted at the front end of the AFCA
  convention. Those sessions will focus on
  communications (public speaking, booster/alumni
  relations, interviewing skills, relationships
  with players and parents) fiscal
  responsibilities (fund-raising, budgeting)
  building a successful program (managing staff,
  relationships with presidents, administrators and
  community) moral and ethical considerations
  (sports wagering, agents, NCAA rules compliance)
  and academic issues (academic support,
  eligibility standards). Current minority coaches
  with at least four years of coaching experience
  may apply for this segment of the program.

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Expert Coaching Program

• The second component is an "Expert Coaching
  Program" aimed at coaches with at least six years
  of experience. This session will be conducted in
  conjunction with the Black Coaches Association
  convention beginning in June 2004. The program is
  designed to develop innovative coaching
  approaches, strengthen relationships with
  players, introduce new game strategies, provide
  game-day coaching skills and address off-field
  concerns.

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Executive Coaching Program

• The "Executive Coaching Program" will be
  conducted for a 12-month period beginning January
  1 for selected coaches with at least eight years
  of coaching experience. This component is the
  mentoring part of the academy, where participants
  will travel to meet with assigned "executive
  coaches" twice during the year. The program
  provides veteran high-profile head coaches and
  athletics administrators (directors of athletics
  or conference commissioners) with selected
  participants to assist with career development,
  networking and exposure opportunities.

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Pseudo research

• I asked a small number of KU football players if
  they ever thought or had been told that they
  should coach once their playing careers are over.
  
• About 50 said they would like to coach.
• Of the 50, Only 50 said that they would want to
  be the head coach, 25 wanted to coach high
  school, 25 wanted to coach college, the other
  50 wanted to be college position coaches(with an
  emphasis on not wanting to be promoted)
• I received approx the same percentages from
  both white and black players.