Hiring Minority Coaches - College vs. NFL

In a special to The New York Times, former head coach of the Indianapolis Colts, Tony Dungy, tells the paper that despite the fact that the NFL has made noticeable progress in the hiring of African-Americans as head coaches for its teams, the NCAA seems to refuse to follow suit by  "leading the way in progressive thinking" and hiring more African-American head coaches for football programs at the collegiate level.

Dungy notes that a seminar held last spring in Indianapolis that brought together NFL and college head coaches yielded some interesting answers as to why, as he puts it, "in 2009 it would be more likely for an African-American to become president of the United States than to be hired as a head coach of a top-20 football program."

Most attendees voiced their belief that it was "the involvement of other people associated with the universities" -- not just the president and athletic director in charge of the hiring decision -- which played a major role in the selection of someone to fill a college football coaching vacancy.  Dungy suggests that other groups such as alumni and boosters often become involved, creating an unfavorable environment in which "the presidents often felt pressure to hire the coaches [either party] would support."

That, says Dungy, is the biggest glaring difference between the NFL and the NCAA in terms of hiring practices.  He writes, "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."

That particular factor, Dungy believes, is critical in recognizing and addressing the problem of hiring African-American coaches at the collegiate level, yet doesn't, he states, "really excuse the hiring practices of our major football programs."

In light of this, Dungy notes there are no "magical formulas or special programs" which need to be discovered or instituted in order to begin reversing the current trend when it comes to increasing the number of African-American coaches on the sidelines of today's college football programs.  Instead, universities "merely need to do what's right -- hire the best candidates, regardless of race."  The resulting diversity will ultimately be seen as beneficial once "minority coaches win their share of championships," Dungy concludes, something he proudly points out Mike Tomlin proved earlier in the month at Super Bowl XLII.