Coaching Carousel 2008-09

And now, the promised examination of hiring practices in Division 1 (FBS) college football head coaching positions. Here's the list from last year.

As you remember, we're at 2.5% at the end of the season (3 African American head coaches out of 120 openings). And here's what's happened since:

Toledo: Hire- Tim Boeckman (no)
Kansas State: Hire- Bill Snyder (no)
Tennessee: Hire- Lane Kitfin (no)
Washington: Hire- Steve Sarkisian (no)
Wyoming: Hire- Dave Christensen (no)
Clemson: Hire- Dabo Swinney (no)
New Mexico: Hire- Mike Locksley (YES!!)
Mississippi State- Hire: Dan Mullen (no)
Bowling Green: Hire- Dave Clawson (no)
Syracuse: Hire- Doug Marrone (no)
Auburn
Eastern Michigan
Utah State
New Mexico State
San Diego State
Miami of Ohio
Army

It's also very promising that Buffalo's Turner Gill is being considered for the Syracuse and Auburn positions, but even with Locksley's hire that would leave the number at four (since Gill already has a head coaching position).

Some point to nepotism as being the main culprit behind these issues, and to a point I agree. A friend once said that the easiest way to get a head coaching position was to be an offensive or defensive coordinator, and the easiest way to get those jobs was to be an assistant, and the easiest way to be an assistant is to be a Graduate Assistant, and the best way to do that is to play D1 football.

But that's where the analogy breaks down, as a large portion of rosters are made up of minority students.

In my opinion, even nepotism smells of racism (intentional, subtle, or institutionalized), as people who have been given opportunity are want to give that same chance to others; if the system worked for them, then it must work. At some point, people must make the conscious decision to think outside of the good ole' boys network and hire new faces and new names. And given that coaching selection is all about money, it's hard to be the person who takes that risk.

Again, I read a lot about a future "up and coming" coaches (Strong from Florida; Phillips from Kentucky, etc.) , and am excited about what may happen. But we've been waiting for "may" for a while across the Higher Education landscape, and the numbers aren't great. A recent survey revealed that

“The leadership which is the power structure in college sport remains overwhelming white. In FBS institutions, this includes 92.5 percent of the presidents, 87.5 percent of the athletics directors, 92.6 percent of the faculty athletics reps, 83.3 percent of the faculty and 100 percent of the conference commissioners. Only 3.5 percent of the faculty are African-American and 3.4 are percent Latino.”

There's a long way to go.