An attorney prominent in minority-hiring initiatives in the NFL sees Title VII as a potentially effective tool in efforts to increase the number of black head coaches in major-college football.

"It can be a catalyst for change," says Cyrus Mehri, a founding partner in a Washington, D.C., law firm and counsel for the Fritz Pollard Alliance, an advocacy group working to place more minorities in NFL head coaching and front office jobs.

He urges colleges and the NCAA to draw up a version of the NFL's 4-year-old Rooney Rule, which penalizes teams for not interviewing minorities for head coaching jobs. Since the rule's adoption, the number of black head coaches in the 32-team league has risen from two to seven.

"What I'm seeing, looking at this from afar, is that the NCAA and individual colleges and conferences have not done enough and they're going to force the BCA and others to look at Title VII as a tool," Mehri says. "It just drives me crazy because it's like the toolbox is right in front of your face. Just pick it up. Use it."

Executive director Floyd Keith says the BCA now plans to use Title VII as a new lever in attempts to end a longtime minority-hiring lag.

"What the BCA can do," says Charlotte Westerhaus, NCAA vice president for diversity and inclusion and a member of the BCA board of directors, "is make sure intercollegiate athletic departments are keenly aware of Title VII as they are now of Title IX...."