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From Jackie Robinson and Muhammad Ali to Tommie Smith and John
Carlos raising their fists at the 1968 Olympics, athletics has long
been an area in which minorities have been able to command
attention in an otherwise segregated and closed-off society.
That is why it’s so important that the NCAA heed the
urging of the Rev. Jesse Jackson and work to make Division I
coaching positions accessible to all people.
Currently, only five out of 117 Division IA football coaching
positions are held by blacks.
As the Rev. Jackson noted after the meeting,
“There’s no shortage of black coaches, there’s a
shortage of opportunity.”
As it is now, head coaches ““ especially at powerhouse
schools like UCLA ““ are basically selected by reputation. In
a catch-22, lesser-known coaches don’t have a chance to be
considered for the job because they don’t already have such a
job. In fact, there’s only one black Division I head coach at
UCLA.
The “Good Ol’ Boys” network that characterizes
the hiring process is holding back black coaches, who often find
themselves among the lesser-knowns.
It’s risky for schools to hire a lesser-known coach;
however, UCLA athletic director Peter Dalis and the NCAA need to be
courageous and take steps to diversify the coaching staff in
collegiate sports.
The head coach selection process needs to be clearer and open to
more candidates.
Simply opening the process to applicants is not enough. Schools
must give weight to people who aren’t marquis coaches and may
have something new to offer sports but haven’t yet been given
a chance to prove themselves.
In order for this to work, athletic directors at large
universities like UCLA need to be willing to take risks since they
make the decisions. Giving “lesser-known” candidates a
chance has worked in the past. People like Dennis Green, an African
American who was once the head coach of football at Stanford
University and is now the coach of the Minnesota Vikings, was once
a “lesser-known” candidate.
Players of all races need coaching role models.
Saying that big-name candidates hold their popularity because of
their coaching skills is inaccurate. They are given top-quality
teams and often strong support from the schools they work for.
Given the resources of lesser-known coaches, the teams that
people like Grambling State University football head coach Doug
Williams have put together only hint at the promise they have.
If there are black coaches who do not have the same opportunity
to achieve that level of fame because they are not given the same
chances, universities could be overlooking the possibility of
increasing both their diversity and coaching quality.
Players of all races need coaching role models. Hopefully, if
players see more black coaches in leadership roles they will in
turn be inspired to enter the coaching profession. Teams and
universities across the nation will benefit from a diversity in
their coaching staffs that represent the diversity of their
players.
By making a definitive stance, UCLA and the NCAA can continue
the tradition of civil rights advances made in one of the few areas
open in society for minorities to succeed. Hopefully someday the
next black coach to be hired at UCLA for a sport like football or
basketball will be looked at much like Robinson, Ali, Smith and
Carlos are looked upon today.