(cfb360.com - NDNation.com)
When Tyrone Willingham publicly decried the lack of head coaching jobs for black Americans earlier this year, he made an irrefutable point: that something in the system is broken. Willingham further points to the good ol' boy network as a culprit, which would appear to have some validity in my opinion.
"You've got to explain the numbers,” said Willingham. “There's more than one answer. But it's alive and well in certain places, yes."
A little research shows that he should be pointing the finger in the mirror.
Willingham, together with enablers like John Saunders and Mark May, has done as much to hurt the cause of minority coaches as any other single person I can think of. I would argue that he’s created new minority roadblocks others must now overcome.
In some respects, Willingham closed far more doors than he opened...if he opened any to begin with.
Let me explain my beliefs and my frustrations. The stepping stone to a head coaching position is a coordinator position. Granted, Willingham skipped this step on his way to the head coaching position at Stanford, but being a coordinator is almost a prerequisite to the head coaching position (note that it certainly doesn’t guarantee success.)
Yet in his seven years at Notre Dame and Washington, Willingham has hired exactly zero minority coordinators.
Zero. That's remarkable for someone willing to throw the charge of racism on the table. Zero into the position that is the stepping stone to the head coaching chair.
In contrast, since Willingham left, Notre Dame has filled both of its coordinator positions with black coaches.
Now, I’m not saying that Corwin Brown or Mike Haywood were hired for their color, but their positions at Notre Dame will make them prime candidates to step into the head chair at another school. Yet IN SEVEN YEARS Willingham couldn’t find one minority worthy of being his second?
So who's racist? The school that hires a minority, or the head coach who hasn't hired one in seven years?
There would have been no better way to further the cause of minority coaches than by the notoriety gained by being a coordinator at Notre Dame. I don’t know what the minority pool looks like for Head Coaches, but theoretically you would think there has to be a bigger pool to choose from when hiring for a coordinator position.
Yet Tyrone Willingham hired whites for those key positions...again, the ones that make up the pool for the next head coaching ranks.
"You Have to Explain the Numbers."
But his worst transgression, by far, was legitimizing the idea that it’s okay to blame racism without cause for personal failures.
Willingham was given the biggest stage in the college football world and failed. He was given one of the biggest stages in the Pac-10 and failed. There’s no loss of dignity in failure. There is great loss of dignity in blaming racism without cause or proof.
Worse, at Notre Dame he did it the coward’s way, by not challenging charges of racism in the press that he knew had no factual support, even when put on the spot by John Saunders, all while banking millions from Notre Dame with the knowledge that he had already contacted the University of Washington about leaving Notre Dame.
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3 months ago
Exactly.
Racism keeps you from being HIRED.
Once hired, your performance is what gets you FIRED.
from 3 months ago
said perfectly Lanie. I can't agree more!
from 3 months ago
This article is so spot-on true. Wish someone in the national media had the GUTS to state the same. But we are all so cowed by PC-related pressure, no one is willing to stand up and speak the truth.
Think this will get easier under Barrack "Obey Me" Obama? Race-related "niceties" and quotas and speech-supression will run rampant!
from 3 months ago
Well stated, Jack. That is why we must make sure that McCain wins the election, and because Obama is going to raise income taxes in the middle of an economic recession. Back to the article, I completely agree with it. BTW, Willingham has had awful losing records with both teams, and that is why he was fired from ND and should be from Washington. He's just a bad coach. There are some very good minority coaches, especially in the NFL. Tony Dungy and Lovie Smith both made it to the Super Bowl, and Dungy beat Smith in a pretty good game.
College football began getting some good minority coaches, but now Ty is just making it harder, as you said. Its such a shame.
from 2 months ago
This is an excellent analysis of the facts surrounding Willingham: There can be little doubt that AD's nationwide will think twice about hiring a black head coach because of the Willingham saga. The obvious conclusion about Willingham isn't that he's racist, it's that he's self-interested and lazy. It appears he doesn't care a bit about race except when it comes to saving his own skin.
As for the Obama riff:
1. Can we leave politics off this board?
2. Plenty of people get fired for reasons other than performance, and sometimes that reason is race. Not the case with Ty, though.
3. Isaac, what exactly are you planning to do to "make sure that McCain wins the election"?
from 2 months ago
Well stated, Jack. That is why we must make sure that McCain wins the election, and because Obama is going to raise income taxes in the middle of an economic recession. Back to the article, I completely agree with it. BTW, Willingham has had awful losing records with both teams, and that is why he was fired from ND and should be from Washington. He's just a bad coach. There are some very good minority coaches, especially in the NFL. Tony Dungy and Lovie Smith both made it to the Super Bowl, and Dungy beat Smith in a pretty good game.
College football began getting some good minority coaches, but now Ty is just making it harder, as you said. Its such a shame.
Isaac I'm guessing you make more than $250,000 a year. If not please quit with the Obama is gonna increase taxes. Yes Obama is gonna increase taxes. To companies making millions off the middle class every year. I love how the republicans keep spouting off about Obama increasing taxes. McCain plans on adding more taxes to the middle class and then throw in how he will tax medical benefits. The middle class will be so broke big business won't be able to keep running. The trickle down theory that republicans keep believing in hasn't worked since Reagan. Two Bush's now and both had record setting unemployment. Hmmmmm yeah lets keep giving to big business. Anyways back to the article....its spot on. As an Irish fan I was glad to see him go. The whole poor me routine got old, especially knowing he was never willing to hire a minority.
3 months ago
Compare Willingham with Randy Shannon, too. Shannon has created a hiring tree of five qualified African-American assistant coaches in his coaching staff. Ron Prince has two A.A. assistant coaches. Pete Carroll has two A.A. assistant coaches. But the overriding factor is not their skin but can they do the job. If not, everyone will be looking for work.
Willingham should be faulted for not hiring more qualified black assistant coaches, unless those coaches would prefer to learn skills for a future head coaching job under someone else - a Weis, a Carroll, a Shannon, etc.
If I'm running a company and paying someone $1-3 million a year and they are not meeting my expectations, I'll find someone who does.
But the NCAA can do more. 12% of all assistant coaches are black. 6% of all heading coaches are black. There are some very well-qualified black assistant coaches out there. Brown and Haywood at ND are two.
3 months ago
I have long thought the cries of the lack of black head coaches was misguided. I wish the media would take to a smaller stepping stone and cry out for more black coordinators, instead of demanding change at the highest level. The old adage goes, Rome wasn't built in a day, and with Karl Dorrell and Willingham both leaving the head coaching ranks in these two years, the strategy might need to be rethought: Push for a huge influx of minority assistant coaches, and 6-8 years down the line (once they prove themselves), it will pay off with the top talents getting their shots at top jobs. 6-8 years for that potential influx of minority head coaches is far better then can be expected at the current turnover rate of black coaches in the NCAA.
from 3 months ago
Great point! I wish I'd have thought of it.
3 months ago
When will Mark May and John Saunders and Jason Whitlock now stand up and admit that ND was right to fire Willingham?? Given how all three of these mental-midgets castigated the University, seems like ND deserves an apology of some sort, given how Willingham has now run Washington into the ground as well.
from 3 months ago
The answer is no. The race race baiter card is something you do not give up.
3 months ago
Whoever wrote this obviously does not know the " New Notre Dame " . Many alumni have known for several years what many of our former faculty have known for an even longer time . Now the men of Sorin have recently spoken the dirty truth , the Notre Dame Family has ceased to exist . The new Notre Dame is a conglomerate ruled not by " what is right " but by political correctness ( see Willingham , Ty ; Department of Diversity ;Department of Containment ;odd attention to arrests for tailgating ;games that go on ad naseum due to introductions carefully orchestrated by development office and Dr Burrish with little regard for the athletes and coaches on the football team or those who came to cheer them ) and an unwavering desire to " be like Princeton " . This is why we have such inconsistent and obviously out of character ( for Notre Dame men at least ) decisions flowing from under the dome .
For my money -- Bring back the Notre Dame family !!!!
3 months ago
How about Mark May and John Saunders focus on those schools that have NEVER had a black head coach, as opposed to those that had one and fired them for poor performance.
In fact if ND had its way they would of had a black head coach of the basketball team, at the same time that they had a black head coach of their football team. I bet there aren't 10 schools in D1 history that can say the same thing.
Unfortunately Ernie Kent, turned down NDs offer to be the head basketball coach, and Willingham turned out to be sub par coach.
3 months ago
Burt
the men of Sorin have never said the Family has ceased to exist, unless you know of a few morons. I don't believe that their stand on giving the Pep rallies back to the students and team has anything to do with "Political Correctness"...that, like the issue with the crazy drinking arrests have more to do with commerce and selling the product and not a political statement. And that seems to have been addressed well within " the family" as improvements are already being seen. The men of Sorin are proof that the family does indeed exist...maybe you are not part of it?
3 months ago
How about Mark May and John Saunders focus on those schools that have NEVER had a black head coach, as opposed to those that had one and fired them for poor performance.
In fact if ND had its way they would of had a black head coach of the basketball team, at the same time that they had a black head coach of their football team. I bet there aren't 10 schools in D1 history that can say the same thing.
Unfortunately Ernie Kent, turned down NDs offer to be the head basketball coach, and Willingham turned out to be sub par coach.
3 months ago
Coach Willingham is the face of African American college football coaches in the country and not having an African American coordinator. Football is just like any other business, you have to work your way up, most head coaches are hired from a coordinator position. Coach Willingham has a white offensive coordinator and after firing his white defensive coordinator last year, he hired Donatell, another white defensive coordinator. In fact of the 9 assistants Coach Willingham employs, only two are African American.
Talk about leadership by example.
Ironicly, Notre Dame has an African American Defensive and Offensive coordinator, and 4 African American coaches on the 9 person assistant staff.
3 months ago
Very well written. People not familiar with the situation who read this article may inadvertently think it is stoking the racial rift in coaching. In reality, it is a well though out reaction to what many know to be a false accusation (that race was involved with ND firing TW).
When you are backed into a corner, defending yourself is different than attacking.
Thanks for the excellent article and thanks also for not stooping to the level of a lot of others by bashing/ridiculing/belittling Coach Willingham.
3 months ago
integri-TY!!! ha ha
3 months ago
Willingham did try to hire Dewayne Walker of UCLA (black) to be his DC before the 2008 season but Walker decided to stay at UCLA under Neuheisel so he hired Ed Donatell.
Willingham is just a crappy head coach and needs to be a position coach somewhere...the author had an excellent point about him skipping the coordinator level since it helps a potential head coach show his X's and O's skills (or not). If Willingham had ever been promoted from position coach to OC or DC first, I really wonder if he ever would've made it up to a head coach position.
3 months ago
If Ty gets fired at UW, That would be because he is BLACK! He has proven at Stanford that he can win and also His first year at ND. Maybe he could get some recuits to come visit him on the golf course. Or maybe he could have Bob Davie recruit these kids for him while they are Juniors so they are intersted in UW early. For God's sake can't Washington's Tradition recruit itself. In defense for Coach Willingham's record. If he gets fired with any years on his contract, He could coach somewhere else and still be UW's highest paid coach. He's one smart double dipper!
from 2 months ago
lol.
3 months ago
I agree he should have hired black coordinators. If he did wouldn't you guys slam him for being to black. You guys would say he is doing it because they are black and yet white coaches hire white coordinators all the time. Is ok for Joe Paterno and Bobby Bowden to have losing seasons with all the off field issues to keep their jobs? I think each school needs to declare what is important to them, a high graduation rate, a winning season, or bad publicity. How many national titles do Bobby Bowden and Joe Paterno have combined at FSU and PSU? How long has it been since either has won one? Oh by the way, Phillip Fulmer is still hanging around in Tennessee also. Good ole boy network!
3 months ago
If UW fires Ty it will be because he is BLACK!!! He has not had enough time to get that program heading in his direction. But if they do fire him, i think he should be the new GM for the Detroit Lions.
from 2 months ago
You are downright stupid, I'm sure your also going to vote for Obama because he is black and not because he has no pride for his own country and wants to pull America out of the war and allow all the accomplishments and billions of dollars put in to help Iraq and set up many security systems as well as computerized schools to just fall off into the ground and make our soldiers 10x more suicidal. It is idiots like you that do not look into the future and just want a man to be president because he is a "g" and plans to make change all by himself. The last person to take charge in this fashion was Hitler, he was aryan and said he would change Germany forever....he sure did that but look what he did, ruined Germany and tried to establish an Aryan race throughout. Nice one ; )!
from 2 months ago
Adam,
Your solution is a 72 year old man with Sarah Palin as your back-up? Incidentally, the average American male has an life expectancy of ~75 years. Of course, the average American male has not had 4 bouts of melanoma nor spent 5 years in a Vietnamese prison camp.
Gosh darn, gee-willickers we sure are in big trouble don't ya think?
Not to mention supporters at Pain's rally yell out "kill Obama" and call a black cameraman "nigger" while she stands on stage and says nothing. That's the kind of leadership I can really get behind.
Borack is obviously wrong if he really thinks that, if TW loses his job, it will be because of race. But you're just as insane.
I mean, you compare Obama to Hitler. Get a clue dope.
from 2 months ago
Adam, none of your comments made sense. If you don't like Obama, that is fine, but don't compare anyone running for our country Hitler.
You can't just call out someone for having no pride, and all these things you are saying aren't even not true, but just stupid. Use common sense and analysis, and don't just make things up because you don't like someone.
from 2 months ago
Saying that someone wants to vote for obama becasue he is black is as ignorant as saying you are voting for mccain because he is white. And how the hell is a state senator and presidential canidate a "g"? And why do you think black people want a ganster for president? It's passive aggressive racsim like that that is dividing this country. Can't someone just not think that giving tax breaks to big business is the best way to jump start this economy. Can someone disagree with taxing a healthy benefit that is insufficient to get decent health care in the first place? Can't soemone feel that while we go further into debt that Iraq contribute more to the war effort as they sit on a surplus.
3 months ago
It's a shame when hiring people to work for your team or company comes down to racism. If I was a head coach at Notre Dame, I would have no problem hiring an African American assistant. However, I would not hire a less-qualified A.A. assistant over a more-qualified Caucasian candidate. Which brings me to my next point.
Whenever there's a coaching vacancy in college or professional football, there's always a report on how many minority candidates that team or school interviewed before hiring someone to fill the spot. Really? Is that what it comes down to? Does every team or school need to interview a predetermined amount of minority candidates before they can hire someone?
Finally, it's a shame that something like this should even be an issue. Is college or professional football void of racism? Probably not. But, coaching positions in football, professional or college, should be filled on experience and results. It's really upsetting to me that people like Willingham or Saunders, or May think they are furthering the cause for minority coaches when they pull stunts like this, but what they're really doing is making it harder for good minority coaches to get jobs.
POTD
3 months ago
Agreed. In fact I made similar points about the coordinator situation earlier this summer...
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/24036-race-and-notre-dame-football-crediting-the-coordinators
3 months ago
HEY! Why aren't there any WOMEN COACHES in college football!?!
C'mon, Erin Andrews! Start this Up!
:-)
3 months ago
On one hand,everybody knows that racism still exist but on both sides. On the other hand, college football has become so competitive in that everybody wants to win and they want to win now.So I wouldn't think it would make a difference if u were pink,as long as you won as any kind of coach and you fit into a team then racism wouldn't be a question.
3 months ago
I wish racism didn't exist. If I was an athletic director (I do desire to work in an athletic department, but as a statistician for the high-profile programs such as football and men's basketball), I would do all in my power to ascertain that race did not govern who I chose as a coach. If racism exists in this situation, shame on all parties. I do take solace in this much, though, as a Denver Broncos fan, I'm even more proud of my favorite team for giving Marlin Briscoe a shot to be a signal-caller. You often don't think of the Broncos as a breakthrough franchise like that, but perhaps we all should. I do like Willingham and wish him nothing but success.
2 months ago
I'm surprised no one brought up the side of the argument that around 70% of the pro players are black. Should whites complain about racism?
The answer, of course is no, because pro players are picked on their ability, not some EOE requirement.
Why then, do some make issues of race when there so few minority coaches? If we say it is due to ability only, then all of a sudden eyebrows get raised- it implies that minorities are not qualified to mentor.
Indeed, the pot isn't calling any kettle, is it?
from 2 months ago
Wow, Eddie hates you.
I've got a new found respect for you now.:)
from 2 months ago
Exactly Lisa. Is it the coach's fault that African Americans have a larger population of very fast people that usually makes them into receivers. Is it a coach's fault that most if not all punters and kickers are Caucasian? I actually can't think of any African American punters or kickers. It is not racism if certain races have certain attributes for certain activities. If we start being politically correct on race in sports then the NBA is going to go through a lot of changes. How many do African-American outnumber Caucasians? Like 4-1?
from 2 months ago
So now we are saying that blacks inherently lack the mental capacity to be head coaches, thats why the are not that many? The essence of racism. If 70% of an employee base is black, you would expect that more than 5% of the management staff of the same industry would be black. Blacks have the mental capacity to play qb and understand and execute football plays, but not the capacity to draw them up and call them? That is ridiculous. Blacks simply lack the talent to be head coaches? Wow.That is flat out racist. Could it be that the majority of athletic directors are white, associate and are comfortable with other white people, and lack the exposure to qualified black applicants, and do not hire them? It's not racist on there part, it's who they know and are comfortable with. Alsio the players in the NFL are DRAFTED and mostly by white executives, so hard to argue racism there.
2 months ago
MAYBE HE JUST HIRE THE BEST AVAILABLE , IS THERE RACISM IN COLLEGE FOOTBALLS HIRING OF HEAD COACHES ? WELL I GUESS WE WOULD HAVE TO BE AN INSIDER AND LOOK AT HOW AND BY WHOM THIS DECISIONS ARE MADE . i CAN TELL YOU THAT ND PULL THE TRIGER TOO FAST ON TY (A 3 YEAR OPPORTUNITY) AND MORTGAGE THEIR SOUL TO WEIS FOR TEN YEARS , COACH WEIS IN 2005 AND 06 HAD A RECORDS OF 9-2 WITH TY TEAM , IN 2007 WIES GOES 3-9 WITH MOSTLEY HIS KIDS AND THIS YEAR WINS OVER THIS YEARS GREAT POWERS(LOL) AS SAN DIEGO ST. ,MICHIGAN ,STANFORD , HONESTLY I DONT SEE THE RESULTS OF THE ND MOVE DO YOU ? I THINK IN THE ND FIRING OF TY YOU COULD MAKE A CASE THAT IF IT WOULD OF BEEN A WHITE COACH HE WOULD OF GIVEN HIM A FEW MORE YEARS , MAYBE NOT ,LETS SEE HOW LONG COACH WEIS GETS TO PUT HIS PLAN IN PLACE....JUST AN OPINION ....
from 2 months ago
You diidn't graduate from Notre Dame did you.
from 2 months ago
Lol he definately did not. I can barely even understand what he is saying here lol! But I actually just got into Notre Dame and Yale but I'm going to Notre Dame since it's obviously a better school lol :)
from 2 months ago
Learn to type without caps.. because believe me.. no one is reading all of that in caps.. ridiculous.
2 months ago
I DONT THINK TY WILL MAKE IT TO THE USC GAME , IT WOULD BE JUST PLAIN SAD IF HIS LAST GAME AT WASHINGTON IS VS THE TEAM THAT FIRED HIS A FEW YEARS AGO , ND ..
2 months ago
NO L. J. I WOULD OF FLUNKED OUT , IM JUST NOT ALL THAT SMART , IM JUST AN IDIOT WITH AN OPINION ..LOL...BOY! THAT IS DANGEROUS ISN'T IT..LOL
2 months ago
POST SHOULD READ: I THINK IN THE ND FIRING OF TY YOU COULD MAKE THE CASE THAT IF HE WOULD OF BEEN A WHITE COACH ND WOULD OF GIVEN HIM A FEW MORE YEARS.
from 2 months ago
post should read: i think in the ND firing.......you could make the case that if he would HAVE....not of....HAVE.....would HAVE.....
2 months ago
ISSAC , Ty is just a bad coach who happens to be black , unless someone looks at life from a rasist point of view , why would Ty being a bad coach have anything to do with other mimority coaches getting a job ? are you kidding me ...lol
2 months ago
find it hard not to respond to all this stuff.....THE GENTLEMAN WHO WROTE THIS ARTICLE SAID "WE NEEDED HIM TO SUCCED" I ASSUME YOUR A ND FAN ,AM I WRONG? , I DONT UNDERSTAND WHY YOU WROTE THIS ARTICLE . WHAT IS YOUR PURPOSE ? WHO BENEFITS FROM THIS ? ARE YOU TRYING TO PROVE THERE IS NO RACISM IN THE HIRING OF COACHES IN COLLEGE FOOTBALL ? ARE YOU TRYING TO PROVE THAT RACISM OF BLACKS COACHES AGAINST OTHER BLACK COACHES IS THE REASON THERE ISN'T MANY BLACK COACHES IN DIV. 1 ? I JUST DONT GET IT MY DEAR FRIEND . TWO MORE QUESTIONS , DO YOU KNOW HOW MANY DIV, 1 SCHOOLS THERE ARE ? AND DO YOU KNOW HOW MANY HAVE BLACK HEAD COACHES ? ENOUGHF SAID .... NOTHING PERSONAL IS JUST MY OPINION AND FROM WHAT I UNDERSTAND EVERYONE HAS ONE AND I THANK GOD FOR THAT....
2 months ago
Sorry this is the most ridiculous thing I've ever read. Tyrone Willingham is not a racist. He is telling it as it is. He was fired from Notre Dame because he was Black. So what if he has white coaches on his staff and doesn't have another black coach as a coordinator. That wasn't his point. There's a huge discrepancy in how many white coaches there are in the NCAA then there are black. It's not being racist it's telling it how it is. Yes it maybe helpful to have some coaching experience whether being an assistant or high school coach. You can name the black coaches on one finger. You can't count how many white coaches there are on your finger. Willingham isn't saying it to be racist but to point out a fact.
from 2 months ago
Steve... I think you miss the point in a big way.
The most ridiculous thing I ever saw was Ty accusing ND of being racist via John Saunders.
The article isn't about Ty.
It is a defense of the baseless accusations aimed at Notre Dame by contrasting what Notre Dame has done with the hypocritical stance of Willingham. He jabs the rest of college football for not doing what he himself has the most power to control and hasn't done. In contrast, the "racist school" (Notre Dame) has acted decisively to create the stepping stones necessary to create minority coaching opportunities.
If Ty believes it's about the numbers, then he has explaining to do.
The intent of the article is to expose the underlying hypocrisy that Notre Dame (which hired an AA HC and two AA coordinators) has been called racist, while Willingham (who has had more direct power to influence pipeline) complains about racism, stokes the fires and does nothing. I find this hypocritical.
The intent is not to pat backs, but through comparison of the two, draw out the underlying hypocrisy.
from 2 months ago
Hey Rock,
Direct quote from cfb360's reply to a comment I made on his article at http://bleacherreport.com/articles/66740-is-ty-willingham-racist posted 21 hours ago:
"It is a defense of the baseless accusations aimed at Notre Dame by contrasting what Notre Dame has done with the hypocritical stance of Willingham. He jabs the rest of college football for not doing what he himself has the most power to control and hasn't done. In contrast, the "racist school" (Notre Dame) has acted decisively to create the stepping stones necessary to create minority coaching opportunities
...
The intent of the article is to expose the underlying hypocrisy that Notre Dame (which hired an AA HC and two AA coordinators) has been called racist, while Willingham (who has had more direct power to influence pipeline) complains about racism, stokes the fires and does nothing. I find this hypocritical.
The intent is not to pat backs, but through comparison of the two, draw out the underlying hypocrisy. "
WORD FOR WORD IDENTICAL. The ellipsis indicates where you removed a single line that made no sense in response to this article.
So what's up man?
You passing off cfb's words as your own or are you the same person with multiple IDs to make it look like people agree with you?
Punk chump.
from 2 months ago
"He was fired from Notre Dame because he was Black"
Steve knows this because he was in the room when the trustees decided to can Ty. Let the white-guilt go bro.
Maybe it would be better if Ty was worried about the percentages of young African-American men actually graduating from college when getting those sweet football scholarships. Ty was a slacker at ND, his performance at Washington is reinforcing that, and the only reason he's getting a pass is because of the color of his skin.
2 months ago
Racism would be holding him to a different standard than other coaches. What is the average life span of a college coach?
from 2 months ago
Good way to stay on topic, bring up something six weeks old.
2 months ago
steven
ty willingham was not fired because he was black. ty willingham was fired because he sucks at his job. if his being black was why they fired him, why did they fill their two coordinator positions with black coaches?
i don't think ty willingham was black. neither does the author. he was merely pointing out that ty willingham constantly brow beats us all with racism but does nothing to fix it.
here's the deal. black coaches just haven't been around as long as white coaches, and don't have the same experience, and getting the percentage of black head coaches in the NCAA up to 25% or 45% or whatever society thinks it should be at isn't going to happen overnight. ESPECIALLY if coaches like ty willingham don't help out their fellow black coaches by giving them jobs.
the same thing happened with black players in sports. when black players started to be accepted into professional sports, it's not like the flood gates opened and all of a sudden there were the amount of black players there are today. it's a gradual process, unfortunately.
from 2 months ago
I don't know much about College Football, but to think that racism is everywhere is ridiculous. It is here yes, but is it everywhere? No. I believe that you are right. Willingham was fired b/c he wasn't winning. No coach has a safe job in today's world b/c he is the scapegoat whether his players stink or not.
Coaches are fired all the time and racism is not brought up. Its impatience that gets rid of them. NFL Top Ten's no. 7 record that will never be broken is Tom Landry's 29 straight head coaching years with the Dallas Cowboys. And they are right. It won't be broken b/c people want championships. Willingham can take a team to a title game for 5 years in a row and people will say he can't get them over the top.
2 months ago
hahaha, just read a big typo. i want to correct my previous comment by saying that i DO think ty willingham is black, and i bet the author does too.
please insert the word racist for the word black in that sentence.
2 months ago
There is Turner Gill. Rumor has it that he is being considered for the Syracuse opening. Buffalo still has two years on their initial five year contract. Clearly the actions of Buffalo speak volumes that Gill is not being descriminated against. Would the subsiquent failure of Syracuse to continue to court him be a sign of racism?
2 months ago
There is Turner Gill. Rumor has it that he is being considered for the Syracuse opening. Buffalo still has two years on their initial five year contract. Clearly the actions of Buffalo speak volumes that Gill is not being descriminated against. Would the subsiquent failure of Syracuse to continue to court him be a sign of racism?
2 months ago
Syracuse ! well let me just jump at that one . Tuner Gill is a fine young coach , if i was his agent i would strongly encourage him to stay in Buffalo until he wins the MAC and then see if you can get a BIG TEN or PAC 10 job .
Syracuse is a coach killer , stay the &^%$^%$ away from there Mr. Gill.. good black coaches at times have to take whatever they can . it's a shame.
There is still much joy to be had in college football this year , seeing ND go 3-4 in their last 7 games of the season and touchdown jesus having to fork out another mill + for MR. WEIS . THAT BOARD MUST BE THINKING "HOW LONG IS THAT CONTRACT FATHER ? IT SEAMES LIKE A 100 YEARS SON" LOL
THERE ARE THIGS IN LIFE THAT ARE PRICELESS , ILL SIT BACK AND ENJOY...LOL
2 months ago
thanks for the edit Drew ....oh ! and Ty is an averege coach that happens to be is BLACK...lol
2 months ago
One question - Why does there have to be a call to hire anyone based on their color?
How about hiring the best man for the job? I don't see many Asians or Mexicans with head coaching jobs either...so?
A bunch of things go into the consideration for hiring a head coach. Things such as, experience, education, like-ability, and sale-ability and that's all before whether or not the guy can do a good job. It seems like there are a bunch of head coaching gigs out there, but there aren't. Somewhere around 300 in college and 32 in the pros...in the U.S.. That's not many when you consider that millions have played football.
I used to think that Willingham was a good coach when he was at Stanford, even though I tired of him quickly due him becoming the poster-boy for the race-hiring issue. Now, after seeing what he's done at Notre Dame and Washington, I question his abilities as a leader and a head coach.
This was a great article and well written. Keep up the good work.
2 months ago
ROB EVERYTHING YOU SAID IS TRUE BUT PLEASE PLEASE TELL ME WHY THIS IS A GREAT ARTICLE ? I SEE LOTS OF COMPLEMENTS , IS WELL WRITTEN BUT WHAT IS IT SAYING , PLEASE HELP ME ROB YOU SOUND LIKE YOU GET IT...LOL
2 months ago
Of course Ty Willingham is a racist-------------in the eyes of pro-Racist who despise him for bringing truth that they hate, to have to think about.
I'm just wondering since the reality Willingham speaks of, was a fact about college football since loooooong before he became a college head coach, then...who was racist prior to Willingham's assertion, when they spoke the same truth?
...hmmmm...
I mean, don't you need to do an article on those persons as well? In order to keep the *peculiar nature* of the article here, uniform, and in sync?
As a matter of fact:
~how many Caucasoid D-I head coaches are failing miserably on the job, like Willingham, yet being allowed to continue on and on and on and on at their Universities ---or given other Div.I chances when they move on--- in ways, unlike anything that Black coaches usually enjoy? I like how most remarks in this article here, conveniently overlooked that reality when criticizing Willingham. Then again, we are on B/R.com; the epitome of Racism in Sports-Info.
~didn't the SEC, just a few seasons ago, have the very first Black coach lead a University's football program, in the history of that conference? And, thats in spite of all of the *great Black minds* that have graced an SEC-gridiron over decades and decades...hmmmm...must've been that racist-Willingham, at it again eh?
2 months ago
Can't spell Willingham without ham.
2 months ago
Tyrone Willingham was fired from Notre Dame because his teams were becoming increasingly uncompetitive, and Willingham's laziness on the recruiting trail suggested that things were only going to get worse.
Willingham landed a good class his first year at ND (due in large part to ND's 8-0 start), but his next two classes were absolutely horrendous--the worst ND classes in 40+ years. It's true that Weis' strong 2005 team was comprised largely of players from Willingham's first class, but Ty's lazy recruiting in 2003 and 2004 put Weis in a very difficult position in 2007 as Ty's crappy 2004 and 2005 recruiting classes meant ND had no depth and very little veteran talent. ND recognized that Ty had put the program in a downward spiral (13-15 record following the 8-0 start notwithstanding), and Ty was deservedly fired.
Washington fans are seeing the same thing at UW. There is no veteran talent/depth, and, aside from last year's class, recruiting has been abysmal. Willingham is a narcissist with unjustifiably high self-confidence, and this personality trait has led to laziness and poor results. Given Ty's 11-30 record at once-proud Washington, I think UW fans would agree.
Anyone who thinks race had anything to do with Ty's dismissal ignores the fact that ND received a ton of positive PR with Willingham at the helm. ND fully knew that firing Willingham would cause the PR to turn against them, but they did so because of the irreparable damage that would have been caused by keeping him around. Why would ND have fired TW without cause given the known backlash that it would cause?
2 months ago
lol, this article highlights a very important yet rarely spoken of truth about the role race plays in America's problems. While I don't think Ty's dismissal was because he's black, I also don't think Willingham not hiring any means he's racist. That's a huge stretch. I understand your fury but here's the problem. This article and the comments (Lisa, Jack and Isaac to name a few) shows the problem with America's Original Sin. White's are so sick of hearing about it and feeling guilty and blah blah blah that out of desperation they pounce on a chance to flip the scrip and say things like,
"I'm surprised no one brought up the side of the argument that around 70% of the pro players are black. Should whites complain about racism? "
Comments like this at first appear really intellectual and insightful but with thought you can hear the frustration and the compassion fatigue and its not good either.
Which ignores the history of racism in America: everybody wants to get over it and forget it happened. But no one wants to actually do anything about it to change what we think of race. How many of you, black or white, actually have more than one friend of the opposite race? And if so how many of those friends are a close friend. That goes for blacks and whites. Both are at fault on this. Whites have such a distorted view of blacks that they stereotype them based on BET and the crime reports on t.v. Thats why you get comments like this
"It is idiots like you that do not look into the future and just want a man to be president because he is a "g" and plans to make change all by himself. "
A "G"? That's a racist comment right there. I don't know how many whites love to make fun of the urban slang black use in their conversations. Sure its not bigoted but its racist. Sadly a lot of whites consciously or subconsciously think black = ghetto...and the word itself has come to have racist and classist overtones.
But the truth is it goes both ways. Blacks are racist towards whites too. We, if we don't challenge it, are usually suspect of whites and don't trust them. And we play the race card whenever something goes wrong. But these are the consequences of America's Original sin and no one wants to mend they just want to prentend things are great and continue on their merry way, but get mad when someone brings it up in a way that makes them feel uncomfortable and its not right.
Both races because of the history treat each other like aliens and don't try to get mend what has happened. Its still a segregated society. Go to your facebook or my space. What's the percentage of your friends that are of a different race. For those of you insecure and saying, "oh i have a lot of black/white friends..." great nice job but you are the minority.
Anyway, I don't see how over the last 50 years of sports how there aren't more black coaches, are they not smart enough? Do they go for positions enough? They play the game for their entire careers and succeed so I'm sure there are plenty able to coach. Personally, I think its just socialization. Until recently blacks didn't even try to be quarterbacks on a regular basis. We wanted the "speed" positions...is it that Blacks are really better at sports or is it that we put more effort into it and thus reap bigger benefits and the same goes for education. Just a thought. Nothing is inherent, but history leads to social patterns that are hard to break.
2 months ago
tay said :"70 % of the pro players are black. Should whites complain about racism? " ACTUALLY SOMEONE TOLD ME THAT A COUPLE OF DAYS WHEN TALKING ABOUT BASEBALL AND OZZIE GUILLEN AND ALL THE HISPANIC PLAYERS THE WHITE SOXS HAVE .....SOME THINGS NEVER CHANGE . THIS SAME GUY WROTE ANOTHER NEGATIVE TY ARTICLE , I THINK HE HAS A FETISH,,LOL
2 months ago
tay said :"70 % of the pro players are black. Should whites complain about racism? " ACTUALLY SOMEONE TOLD ME THAT A COUPLE OF DAYS WHEN TALKING ABOUT BASEBALL AND OZZIE GUILLEN AND ALL THE HISPANIC PLAYERS THE WHITE SOXS HAVE .....SOME THINGS NEVER CHANGE . THIS SAME GUY WROTE ANOTHER NEGATIVE TY ARTICLE , I THINK HE HAS A FETISH,,LOL