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There are four African-American head coaches among the 119 Football Bowl Subdivision teams in college football, with the possibility of five, if Ron English is hired at Eastern Michigan. That means in a sport in which 50 percent of the players are African-American, currently only 3.4 percent of the coaches are black.
The hiring problem was underlined when two white coaches who had failed spectacularly in their previous jobs — Lane Kiffin with the N.F.L.’s Raiders and Gene Chizik at Iowa State — landed plum positions. Kiffin went to Tennessee, Chizik to Auburn.
Meanwhile, the country’s hottest young African-American coach, Turner Gill of Buffalo, was passed over. Gill took one of the worst programs in college football and turned it into a Mid-American Conference champion in three seasons. But he was overlooked for the marquee openings.
“It’s more frustrating than anything that I can think of right now,” said Myles Brand, the president of the N.C.A.A. “I can’t see my way clear to the solution.”
Charles Barkley, the former N.B.A. All-Star, called Auburn, his alma mater, racist for taking Chizik over Gill. Chizik is a former Auburn defensive coordinator who was 5-19 in two seasons as the coach at Iowa State. His record included 10 straight losses at the end of this season, going 0-8 in conference play, and losses last season to Kent State, Toledo and Northern Iowa.
At the time of the hiring, Auburn Athletic Director Jay Jacobs defended his decision at a news conference by telling reporters, “I was picking the best fit for Auburn.”
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The hiring problem was underlined when two white coaches who had failed spectacularly in their previous jobs — Lane Kiffin with the N.F.L.’s Raiders and Gene Chizik at Iowa State — landed plum positions. Kiffin went to Tennessee, Chizik to Auburn.
Meanwhile, the country’s hottest young African-American coach, Turner Gill of Buffalo, was passed over. Gill took one of the worst programs in college football and turned it into a Mid-American Conference champion in three seasons. But he was overlooked for the marquee openings.
“It’s more frustrating than anything that I can think of right now,” said Myles Brand, the president of the N.C.A.A. “I can’t see my way clear to the solution.”
Charles Barkley, the former N.B.A. All-Star, called Auburn, his alma mater, racist for taking Chizik over Gill. Chizik is a former Auburn defensive coordinator who was 5-19 in two seasons as the coach at Iowa State. His record included 10 straight losses at the end of this season, going 0-8 in conference play, and losses last season to Kent State, Toledo and Northern Iowa.
At the time of the hiring, Auburn Athletic Director Jay Jacobs defended his decision at a news conference by telling reporters, “I was picking the best fit for Auburn.”
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