Last week, the Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport at the University of Central Florida released an interesting study entitled, "The Buck Stops Here: Assessing Diversity Among Campus and Conference Leaders for Division I-A Schools in 2006." The study found that the people who make the key decisions in the athletic departments and on college campuses of Division I-A programs are overwhelmingly white: 94 percent of the school presidents, 89 percent of the athletic directors, 94 percent of the faculty athletic reps and 100 percent of the conference commissioners. The study also included head coaches, offensive and defensive coordinators, and assistant coaches. During the 2005 season, there were only four minority head football coaches in Division I-A, and two were hired at the end of the 2005 season at Kansas State University and SUNY Buffalo.
According to Richard Lapchick, the head of the Institute and author of the report:
"The study shows that the vast majority of the most powerful people in college sport are still white. Does the fact that the leadership at our institutions of higher education is overwhelmingly white and male have an impact on the hiring of head football coaches? How could it not? History shows that in the 'old boys' network, white men are likely to hire people who look like them. Many African-American coaches are waiting in the wings, ready to lead Division I-A programs, but when more than 92 percent of our campus leaders are white, chances are they will seek who they know."
In last Thursday's edition of The Chronicle of Higher Education, Brad Wolverton highlighted two recent developments that, according to Lapchick, could help give minority job seekers more opportunities in college sports. The first is that NCAA president Myles Brand hired Charlotte Westerhaus, an African-American woman, to lead the NCAA's diversity efforts. Secondly, a "report card" produced by the Black Coaches Association, in which colleges are graded not just on whom they hire but on the number of minority candidates they interview for openings, has encouraged more colleges to consider more minority candidates for jobs.
Another way to ultimately get more minority representation in head coaching positions would be to increase the pool of minority assistant coaches and grad assistants so that there are more available minority coaches to be considered for the head coaching positions. For example, the rules could be revised so that colleges would be permitted to hire a third grad assistant coach if that coach is a minority (colleges are currently only allowed to hire two). Colleges need to take a more proactive stance in hiring minorities as offensive and defensive coordinators, assistant coaches, assistant athletic directors and all entry-level administrative and coaching positions. Thus, it would seem that the minority percentage data at these positions around college campuses is as equally important as the data at the leadership positions. According to the study, an overwhelming majority of the coordinators and assistant coaches last year were white: 88 percent of the offensive and defensive coordinators and 72 percent of the assistant coaches. It would be interesting to see the minority percentage data at the assistant and entry-level administrative positions as well, but my guess is (and it is purely speculation) that it pretty much follows suit with the minority percentage data in the leadership administrative positions.
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