Lack of minority coaches draws organization’s ire

Only 12 of the last 197 college football vacancies have gone to minorities.

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The Black Coaches and Administrators want to change college football’s status quo.

So when the BCA released its fourth hiring report card Tuesday, it came with a warning: Add more diversity to the head coaching ranks or risk facing a future civil rights lawsuit.

“Whether it’s the [NFL’s] Rooney Rule or the Eddie Robinson Rule or Title VII, I’m not sure,” executive director Floyd Keith said. “But something is needed.”

Title VII is civil rights legislation that could be used as the basis for a lawsuit.

While Keith acknowledges there has been progress, he believes the changes are occurring too slowly and wants to see more substantial end results. In short, more minority coaches hired.

The record shows that of 197 head coaching vacancies since 1996, only 12 have gone to black coaches and only 26 blacks have ever been hired at Football Bowl Subdivision schools.

This season began with 12 minority coaches at the 220 football-playing non-historically black colleges and universities in the FBS and Football Championship Subdivision, formerly known as Division I-A and I-AA. One of those, Indiana State’s Lou West, was fired two weeks ago after going 1-25 in a little more than two seasons with the Sycamores.

And of the 33 jobs that opened after last season, Miami and Florida International were the only schools to make minority hires. Randy Shannon was hired at Miami and Mario Cristobal, a Hispanic, took over at Florida International.

Georgia Tech men’s basketball coach Paul Hewitt, the BCA president, called those numbers embarrassing.

The BCA’s response may be going to court.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Keith said his group would be looking for the right case — something Hewitt appears to support.

“If somebody gave me a timeline as to how long it would take and what’s possible, sure, let’s go that route,” Hewitt said. “I’m really more interested in getting more interviews for candidates.”

Other supporters, however, believe the most expeditious path to change would be persuading athletic directors and university presidents to embrace diversity on the sideline.

“I’m probably much more optimistic that the pipeline is getting so thick and so long that it will bust and that a lot more individuals would be hired faster and sooner without a lawsuit,” said Charlotte Westerhaus, the NCAA’s vice president of diversity and inclusion.