At the risk of this becoming a THFGT topic, I have to agree with Tony Dungy's article. I think he is right on point about hiring the best person for the job regardless of race. I would add, however, that I believe that one of the reasons we don't have more minority candidates IS because of racism. It is not so much that minority candidates don't get a job directly because of the applicant's race, but rather, because the minority coaches are not better prepared to be a head coach. What seems to happen, more often than not, is that the minority candidates have not held top assistant coach positions. Even defensive and offensive coordinators may not have enough management experience. If we really want to increase the number of successful minority coaches, we need to train them as assistant head coaches and give them the appropriate responsibility that position entails. Let them be involved in every aspect of the team.
I think the old Mississippi State coach may have been much more effective if he had more experience with all aspects of being a head coach before he was put in as a head coach. I hope that Charlie Strong is being properly groomed to be a head coach. I expect he will be the next black head coach at a major program. Jerry From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of A. Leon Polhill Sent: Friday, February 20, 2009 2:31 PM To: [email protected] Subject: [gatornews] Diversity Everywhere but the Sidelines The NYTimes February 20, 2009 Op-Ed Contributor Diversity Everywhere but the Sidelines By TONY DUNGY Tampa, Fla. IN the last month, we witnessed the inauguration of our first African-American president and also saw Mike Tomlin of the Pittsburgh Steelers become the second African-American head coach to lead his team to a Super Bowl win. The fact that there was very little talk of Tomlin's race in the week leading up to the game suggests just how much progress has been made in terms of black men in leadership positions in the N.F.L. February is also the month that high school football players choose the colleges they will attend in the fall. While it's an exciting day for those seniors, it's a disappointing day for me. You see, many of those players who choose the top schools are African-American and yet almost none of them will get the opportunity to play for an African-American head coach. Of 120 teams in the N.C.A.A.'s Bowl Subdivision, the top tier of play, only seven have black head coaches. One would think that our universities would be leading the way in progressive thinking. You wouldn't think that in 2009 it would be more likely for an African-American to become president of the United States than to be hired as head coach of a top-20 football program. But that seems to be the case. Over the past decade I've been contacted by many universities who were looking for head coaches. I've recommended African-American coaches including Herm Edwards, Lovie Smith, Mike Tomlin, Ron Meeks and Leslie Frazier - men with great leadership skills and great track records in the N.F.L. None was hired, and rarely did they even get interviewed by those universities. With the progress that has been made in terms of diversity in politics, in other collegiate sports and in professional football - Edwards, Smith and Tomlin all got top jobs in the N.F.L. - why is college football hiring so far behind? At a seminar last spring in Indianapolis with other N.F.L. and college head coaches and university athletic directors, I asked that very question, and was enlightened by the responses of those directors. The biggest factor, they said, was the involvement of other people associated with the universities. It was not just the president and the athletic director who made the hiring decisions - alumni and boosters were involved, and the presidents often felt pressure to hire coaches the boosters would support. That appears to be the biggest difference between the N.F.L. and the N.C.A.A. in hiring practices. While a university president may have to appease alumni, Dan Rooney, the owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers, can hire someone like Tomlin without having to consult anyone else. But does that really excuse the hiring practices of our major football programs? Shouldn't minority students be able to see role models of diverse leadership at the college level? How long should we give a pass to these institutions that should be at the forefront of diversity? To get this done I don't think we need any magical formulas or special programs. We don't need task forces to uncover good candidates. Our universities merely need to do what's right - hire the best candidates, regardless of race. We'll see diversity as those minority coaches win their share of championships. I think Mike Tomlin proved that this month. Tony Dungy, the former head coach of the Indianapolis Colts and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, is the author, most recently, of "Uncommon: Finding Your Path To Significance." A. Leon Polhill FlaNative1845 330 NW 45th Street Gainesville, FL 32607 (352) 367-4642 --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ GATORS: ONE VOICE ON SATURDAY - NO VOICE ON SUNDAY! 1996 National Football Champions | 2006 National Basketball Champions 2006 National Football Champions | 2007 National Basketball Champions 2008 National Football Champions | Three Heisman Trophy winners: Steve Spurrier (1966), Danny Wuerffel (1996), Tim Tebow (2007) - Visit our website at www.gatornet.us -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
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