Shattering the Glass Ceiling: Blacks in Coaching

During the 2003 football season, African Americans were employed as head coaches at five of the 117 NCAA Division I-A colleges and universities. At the conclusion of the 2003 season, there were 13 head coaching vacancies at Division I-A football programs; one African American was hired. Today, five African Americans have the responsibility of leading major college football programs.
Since 1982, there have been 381 head coaching vacancies at the Division I-A level; Black coaches have been selected for 19 (4 percent) of the head coaching vacancies with 15 of the appointments occurring after 1990. In the history of Division I-A football, Black coaches have been selected a total of 21 times to lead as head football coaches.

Recent head coaching opportunities:
1996: 24 vacancies
 Oklahoma hired John Blake
1997: 14 vacancies
 New Mexico State
 hired Tony Samuel
1998: 19 vacancies
 University of  Louisiana    Lafayette hired Jerry Baldwin
1999: 14 vacancies
 Michigan State  hired  Bobby Williams
2000: 25 vacancies
 San Jose State hired Fitzgerald Hill
2001: 13 vacancies
 Notre Dame hired Tyrone Willingham
2002: 20 vacancies
 UCLA hired Karl Dorrell
2003: 13 vacancies
  Alabama hired Sylvester Croom

 Total Vacancies in the last eight years: 142

Black coaches have been selected for eight of the 142 (5 percent) available vacancies in the last eight years. Blake was released following the 1998 football season and Baldwin was not retained at the conclusion of the 2001 football season. Williams was dismissed during the 2002 football season after a lopsided loss to in-state rival Michigan. UCLA hired the only African American football coach at the conclusion of the 2002 regular football season. History repeated itself for the eighth consecutive year when Mississippi State hired the only African American football coach at the conclusion of the 2003 regular football season.