Coach-In-Waiting Plan Needs to Go

Haste always invites waste. Such was the case with my 30-second rant last Friday at the end of Around the Horn against the trend of college coaches designating successors.

I expressed my amazement that Ralph Friedgen, the football coach at Maryland where I started teaching last semester, announced last Friday that he was tagging one of his assistants to be the program's coach when his contract ends in three years. I argued that I didn't think Friedgen had earned that right.

More important, I suggested that the growing movement of naming a head coach-in-waiting undermined equal opportunity in coaching.

What I didn't point out was that the successor Friedgen named, James Franklin, is black. Therefore, my argument appeared to have a rather large hole.

It does not.

What Friedgen suggested and Maryland signed off on with Franklin is an exception. This is the norm: Florida State's Bobby Bowden said Jimbo Fisher will replace him, Oregon coach Mike Bellotti said Chip Kelly will replace him, and Texas coach Mack Brown said Will Muschamp will replace him.

Also, Joe Paterno, should he ever retire, is suspected to be considering longtime assistant Tom Bradley to replace him. And Virginia Tech's Frank Beamer is said to be considering Bud Foster to replace him.

All of those designates, or potential designates, are white. Those are five jobs where no-need-to-apply signs may as well be hung at the door.

The only other exception is Kentucky where Rich Brooks said he wants Joker Phillips, a young black assistant, to succeed him.

White or black, this is an unfair hiring process because it isn't a hiring process at all. It is as closed a search as there ever was. Just because one black coach or two benefits from it doesn't make it right. And most of these schools are publicly funded, not private like a mom-and-pop operation where the transfer of control within the family is expected and tolerated.

I'm not alone in my concern.

"We really need to emphasize that designating a successor ... closes off inclusion, it closes off opening up interviews for all top candidates," NCAA vice president for diversity and inclusion Charlotte Westerhaus told USA Today last December. "And if you close that off, you will inevitably close off the opportunity to diversity the ranks of college football."

The coach-in-waiting plan is just a newfangled extension of the good ol' boy network.

Kevin B. Blackistone is a panelist on ESPN's Around the Horn, the Shirley Povich Chair in Sports Journalism at the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland, and a frequent sports opinionist on other outlets. A former award-winning sports columnist for The Dallas Morning News, he currently lives in Silver Spring, Md.

Latest College Football Photos

Iowa running back Shonn Greene, right, answers questions at a news conference before the official presentation of the Doak Walker Award, Friday evening, Feb. 6, 2009, in Dallas. Former Dallas Cowboys running back Calvin Hill, left, received the Doak Walker Legends awards. (AP Photo/Tim Sharp)

Iowa running back Shonn Greene, right, and former Dallas Cowboys running back Calvin Hill pose for photos before the official presentation of the Doak Walker Award, Friday evening, Feb. 6, 2009, in Dallas. Hill received the Doak Walker Legends awards. (AP Photo/Tim Sharp)

Iowa running back Shonn Greene answers questions at a news conference before the official presentation of the Doak Walker Award, Friday evening, Feb. 6, 2009, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Tim Sharp)

In this 2007 photo, Bastrop High School's Rueben Randle (5) is shown in action in the class 4A high school football championship in New Orleans. Randle signed a letter of intent to play at LSU on Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2009. (AP Photo/Kita Wright)

Georgia Tech football coach Paul Johnson speaks during a news conference in Atlanta on Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2009, national signing day. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)

Georgia Tech head football coach Paul Johnson speaks during a news conference in Atlanta Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2009. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)

Ohio State football recruit Jack Mewhort (74) stands with Ohio State head football coach Jim Tressel, left, during a news conference Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2009, in Columbus, Ohio. (AP Photo/Terry Gilliam)

Ohio State head football coach Jim Tressel, left, stands with recruits Storm Klein (32), Zach Boren (44), Jack Mewhort (74) and Adam Homan (49) during a news conference on National Signing Day Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2009, in Columbus, Ohio. (AP Photo/Terry Gilliam)

Ohio State head football coach Jim Tressel address members of the media during a news conference on National Signing Day Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2009, in Columbus, Ohio. (AP Photo/Terry Gilliam)

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

2-07-2009 @ 6:49PM

fuseball2 said...

shut up, u are seriously the worst writer ive ever seen. your arguments are ridiculous, immature, racist and have to credability.

2-07-2009 @ 11:17PM

gsan201 said...

I agree.This guy is actually teaching at the university? What a disgrace.For him to be against it because it would stifle equal opportunity,that is equivalent to me saying hmmm I am against Footbal and Basketball programs because their is not enouggh white people on the team.Either way it would be racist.This guy is part of the MEDIA problem we have in America with their bigotted racist double standards. WOW he actually teaches people o be so bigotted too.Wonder if he has any kids he teaches his HATE to.

2-07-2009 @ 11:19PM

Hey Mr. Writer man, Do you think Obama is giving fair treatment to all people in the Senate and House?Do you think he is not picking and choosing among his small group that thinks like him.This is the same thing.Guess what? His job is federally funded even if he did buy it.

2-08-2009 @ 1:04PM

Chris said...

Kevin - On ATH on Friday you actually said Friedgen was the head basketball coach. I know you misspoke but I thought it was funny.

2-08-2009 @ 4:33PM

Bob said...

I really, really hate to get into anything race-related in a forum like this, where people don't know each other or their motives or upbringing, but I must agree with a lot of the comments I've seen regarding this writer. I've read many of his articles, and most of the time he ends up stirring up racial antagonism, as if he feels it's his duty as a black writer to always point out the slightest chance of a white person being favored, regardless of experience, specific situation, etc.. I have many black friends and coworkers, and start everyone off with a blank slate, but with people in positions of influence like Blackistone constantly bombarding his readers with this stuff, it's no wonder this country continues to have racial problems. All you're doing is making people resent you and your race, and whether you want to believe it or not, a whole lot of whites are past the issue of race--until we once again have it jammed down our throats by someone who just won't let it die.

2-08-2009 @ 7:08PM

jjp3rd said...

Mr. Blackistone: Like it or not college sports is a business, and any good business needs a succession plan. These contrived searches do very little for the school or for the "diverse" candidates that are supposed to be benefitting from them.

Let's drop the pretenses of giving people a chance. The schools should be free to hire the best candidates they can find. Should they choose not to hire someone who is the best candidate because of his race, who loses?

My guess is that that individual will get his opportunity; look around you and you'll see that minorities are gaining in this area. Coaches like Mike Tomlin and Tony Dungee and our President might be a good indication that the tide is turning. I don't believe that any of those three benefitted from an orchestrated, inclusional search.

To those who responded before me, some of your posts actually make good points, but the poor grammar and hyperbolized emotion in them negates your credibility. Try taking a breath before writing, and proofreading it afterward.

2-09-2009 @ 9:15AM

dirkwdeyoung said...

Aol college football reporting always looks at the darkest side of everything in college football, somehow assuming that the readers like this kind of gossip. If programs name coaches in waiting, it is only because they want to give recruits a clear vision of their future with a certain program and to create continuity in programs that have been, for the most part, very successful. In this article he mentions 7 programs and two of the named successors are black. That is a 28% ratio. What "ratio" will make Blackstone happy? 100%? What is this hangup with race? Does anybody seriously question the selection of any of the above head coaches in waiting? My impression is at Texas (I'm a UT Fan) is that this measure needed to be taken in order to retain Muschamp, who would be highly sought after as a head coach elsewhere. Blackstone, through his racist filter, has a questionable understanding of the real causality in these choices by top programs.

2-09-2009 @ 5:38PM

Mr. President said...

Are you serious? Stop writing... seriously! Your horrible.

2-10-2009 @ 7:20PM

oak301404 said...

Kevin i strongly disagree with you. These things have been going on since the beginning of time and I think the only reason they announce them publicly is because of recruiting. If a school has an older coach, the kids are going to want to know who the school is going to replace them with. If they don't announce it, people will apply with false hope of landing a coaching job and will not get it. They'll go to Maryland and apply for a job when the school knows they're going to hire James Franklin regardless. This isn't a social issue. Schools do it as a recruiting ploy. A 17 year old kid is not sure that Bobby Bowden will make it threw their 4 years but they may still sign if they are comfortable with Jimbo Fisher. Its all about recruiting.

2-11-2009 @ 3:11AM

danny said...

I hate people that use this minority or race card. To me it's just another thing to get in the way of enjoying the game. And truthfully....Just who do you think could coach better at Florida State than Jimbo...or Bud Foster at VT....and Tom at Penn State?!?!? There's a reason those franchises have kept those names around and why their colleges have gotten such great prestige...They're good coaches and they've been trained by the best!!!

2-11-2009 @ 3:15AM

I failed to mention something in my last post. No matter who the person is applying for the job I believe everybody has the equal right to the job. But when it comes down to it, I want the best coach for the job!