The NCAA Has Dropped the Ball on Race, and They Need to Pick It Up

The election of Barack Obama on Tuesday as the next President of the United States destroyed barriers to the Oval Office that had stood for over 200 years. Discrimination and blatant racism are things that Obama hopes to destroy the legacy of while president, and the country’s overwhelming vote for him demonstrates that many of the wounds of the past have been healed.

Obama’s election may be a huge step forward for equality in this country, but there are still certain portions of our society where the gap is still wide. One of these areas is NCAA football.

Two stories involving race caught my attention this week and demonstrate that while we are advancing as a society, we are still backward in many places that are prominent in our country.

The first story that drew me in was about a study done by The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport at the University of Central Florida. The number of black coaches in the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision has been reduced to four in recent weeks by the dismissals of Ty Willingham and Ron Prince.

For those of you who are math whizzes, that works out to a 4/119 ratio, or 3.4 percent.

According to the article on ESPN.com, the most black coaches there have ever been during any point in a college season was eight. The fewest there have been in recent years were three in 1993 and 2005. This is in direct contrast to the percentage of student athletes who are minorities, which is somewhere around 55 percent.

"While the percentages are slightly better, the general picture is still one of white men running college sport," said Richard Lapchick, the report's co-author. "Overall, the numbers simply do not reflect the diversity of our student-athletes. Moreover, they do not reflect the diversity of our nation where we have elected an African-American as President for the first time."

Charlotte Westerhaus, who is the NCAA V.P. for Diversity and Inclusion, agreed that the organization is disappointed in these figures, and that the NCAA could take the lead from the American people and show the will to change them.

Lapchick proposed a rule change, similar to the “Rooney Rule,” which would be called the “Eddie Robinson Rule” and would mandate colleges to interview minority candidates for coaching vacancies. With 91 percent of university leadership in this country still being white, I think a rule like this would not necessarily be a bad thing.

Personally, I had never really thought much about minority coaches in the college ranks before the study came to my attention. I obviously was familiar with the Rooney Rule, and the issues surrounding it, but I had never thought to myself, “I wonder how many black coaches there are.”

The number that really startled me was that there have been 199 job openings in college football since 1996. Of these, 12 have gone to African-Americans. That is six percent. That number is unacceptable, an atrocity, and something that the NCAA needs to address YESTERDAY.

Now, I understand the argument against rules like the Rooney Rule and against affirmative action in general. You don’t want interviews with black candidates to be merely “time fillers” or “higher-up satisfiers,” but if colleges aren’t at least required to interview a black candidate, and currently they aren’t, then clearly they aren’t doing it.

If mandating that colleges have to interview black coaches is what’s necessary to increase the minority coaching ranks, then so be it.

I generally like to think that these universities are not doing this out of some sort of racist mentality, and more than likely that’s the case. Far be it from me to point an accusing finger at these deans and ADs and say that they are doing this for less than noble reasons.

I will, however, accuse these people of not making enough of an effort to expand the coaching ranks from just a “good ol’ boys” network and making it a more diverse and effective workforce.

Another issue that came up involving race was the case of former Texas backup lineman Buck Burnette. The news broke on Wednesday that he had been dismissed from the team for posting a racial slur on his Facebook page about Barack Obama’s election to the presidency.

In a statement, Burnette apologized for his actions, saying he had made a “terrible mistake.” He insisted that it was not a true reflection of his character.

Now, I’m all about giving second chances to people. America is built on the notion that nothing you can do should mean that you are permanently evicted from the bonds of citizenship.

In a situation like this, though, I believe that the University was right in its decision to kick him off the football team.

The reason that he should not get a second chance in this case is because of the impact and distraction that it would have on his black teammates. As was noted earlier, 55 percent of college athletes are minorities, and if you are going around making racist statements, it’s going to be awfully hard to be a good teammate to you, and your acceptance into that fraternity will be strained.

Far be it from me to be judge, jury, and executioner, but I think that the most appropriate course of action would be to kick this young man off the football team and for the NCAA to make a special exemption to let him transfer and not have to wait a full year before he can participate. This exemption should be given because he seems genuinely remorseful for what he said, and he is, after all, just a young man.

This incident also reflects the danger of the Internet for young men. Anything that you post in cyberspace could one day end up severely damaging your reputation, could cost you your shot at a good job, or any number of things. This once again reinforces the idea that if you don’t want your mother to see something, do NOT post it on the Internet.

Race and sports are issues that aren't likely to go away anytime soon. These two issues are things that are black eyes on the sport of college football, but if they are handled correctly, they could potentially be used to advance the sport.

It is my hope that the NCAA will do the right thing and hire more black coaches, and let this young man from Texas play football again.

If Barack Obama has taught us one thing, it is that we work best as Americans when we come together.