NCAA Football

Lack of Minority Hires Galls NCAA Official

Posted Jun 19, 2009 1:26PM By Tim Povtak (RSS feed)

Filed Under: Coaching

Text SizeAAA
Turner GillORLANDO -- The NCAA has a problem that is so glaring, it makes people cringe every time they see the numbers. It makes Charlotte Westerhaus mad.

It should make you mad, too.

"It's appalling, disturbing, embarrassing,'' Westerhaus said. "People should be asking why this is still like it is. People should be asking questions every time there is an opening.''

Westerhaus is the NCAA vice-president of Diversity and Inclusion, and she isn't shy about letting you know her opinion on the lack of minorities that are head football coaches throughout her organization.

Of the 582 schools that play either Division I, II or III football (excluding the historically black universities), only 3.9 percent have head coaches of color.

Of the current 119 Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) head football coaches, only seven are African American (including Buffalo's Turner Gill, above), one is Pacific Islander and one Latino.

It's those numbers that brought her to Orlando this weekend for the NCAA Champions Forum, an aggressive program designed to help increase the number of minority head football coaches at every level.

The program has brought together a wide range of athletic directors from around the country with a group of 11 minority coaches who were identified as having both the experience and potential to be successful head coaches.

"The proof will be in the pudding, and that's whether there is an increase in the number of minority hires,'' she said. "Interviews are happening. We know that. What's galling is that the hires haven't happened. The focus need to be on the hires.''

According to her numbers, there were 22 head coaching changes since last season ended. For those openings, there were 27 interviews with minorities. Of those, only four were hired.

The NCAA national office does not have the authority to mandate hiring decisions at its member institutions, but it does have the power to expose those minority coaches to key decision-makers. That's what Westerhaus does.

"We have to make sure the athletic directors know that diversity and inclusion equals excellence,'' she said. "The more diversity we have in football coaching positions, it will enhance the excellence for all student athletes.''

Westerhaus is not the only one who gets riled up when she sees the numbers. She said she didn't have any problems getting athletic directors to join in the Forum, which started Thursday and runs through Saturday.

"It is shocking to me (when I hear the numbers). When you look at the sport, the makeup of the sport, you would think there would be more,'' said Damon Evans, University of Georgia athletic director. "Am I surprised? No. It's been a problem for quite some time, and we haven't made huge steps in the right direction.''

Tags: charlotte+westerhaus, CharlotteWesterhaus

Related Articles

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 7)

| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Most Recent | Next 20 Comments