Study: Few Minority Football Coaches Reflects Leadership

ORLANDO, Fla.

The dearth of minorities who are college football head coaches reflects the lack of diversity among campus and conference leaders, a University of Central Florida study released in November concludes.

UCF's Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport found there were five Blacks and one Hispanic employed as head coaches at the 117 Division I-A schools as of Oct. 31.

The low percentage of minorities coaching mirrored the numbers for university presidents (5 percent), athletic directors (8 percent), faculty athletic representatives (9 percent) and conference commissioners (no minorities).

"It is clear from this data that the vast majority of the most powerful people in college sports are White," said institute director Richard Lapchick in a statement. "Does this have an impact on the hiring of head football coaches? How could it not?"

The study —  "The Buck Stops Here: Assessing Diversity among Campus and Conference Leaders for Division I-A Schools" — also found that of the 360 campus leadership positions, White women held 41 (11 percent). There are only two minority women, one Black and the other Hispanic.

"History shows that in the ‘old boys' network, White men are likely to hire people who look like them," Lapchick said.

But the study also noted that minorities in leadership positions were no more prone to hire minorities than their White peers. The same went for women.

Of the six minority university presidents, none hired a minority for the positions of athletic director, head football coach or faculty athletic representative.

Among the 13 women presidents, the only minority hiring was a faculty athletic representative; none appointed a female athletic director and three women were hired as faculty reps.

— Associated Press