News Article

Black Coaches in the National Football League

Richard E. Lapchick

Published: December 10, 2002

Statement By
Richard E. Lapchick
Chair, Sport Business Management Program
University of Central Florida

"Black Coaches in the National Football League: Superior Performance, Inferior Opportunities proves with empirical data what we have known anecdotally for years: head coaching opportunities in the NFL for blacks are simply not the same as for white coaches. The fact that there have been only five Black head coaches in the modern history of the NFL is itself a stunning statistic. Seeing how successful these coaches have been represents a new and valuable contribution to the public discussion.

We have known of the problem of the lack of Black head coaches for many years. The report offers an unprecedented analysis of hiring and firing of NFL coaches in relation to their job performance. Fifteen years of win-loss records, from 1986 to 2001, were compiled into a database, the analysis of which unequivocally illustrates that Black head coaches are among the last to be hired, or even interviewed, for a head coaching position in the NFL. But even more disconcerting is the clear proof that Black coaches are most often terminated with better job performance ratings than white coaches who are terminated.

What for me is most important about this report are the unique proposals encompassed in the "Fair Competition Resolution" made to the NFL to address the situation by offering ways of using draft choices to encourage change in the hiring practices for head coaches at the team level. The NFL Commissioner has proactively attempted to encourage teams to hire a more diverse pool of head coaches for more than a decade. The NFL Minority Coaching Fellowship program has led to the hiring of substantially more Black assistant coaches and the highest number of Black offensive and defensive coordinators in the history of the NFL. However, when it comes to head coaches, most often the teams do not even interview highly qualified minority candidates.

The proposed Resolution requires that teams have a racially diverse slate of final candidates so that black coaches will at least have a level playing field to compete for these positions. Major League Baseball has required a diverse slate for several years and the result has been a record number of Black and Latino managers. The NBA has had an excellent record in hiring black head coaches for more than 20 years.

If the Resolution is adopted by the NFL, the Commissioner will have the tools to do more than encourage the hiring of Black head coaches. He will be able to replicate the records achieved by MLB and the NBA and break new ground for the NFL.

This represents a step forward in making the debate about minority coaches more than just a debate. "