Time for a Robinson Rule?
I’m not well-versed enough in college football to know if this is fair analysis by the LGM crowd. But I do know that the lack of Black coaches in D-I football is a long-standing problem, and one the NCAA has bent over backwards to avoid correcting. LGM’s story is about the coaching moves by Auburn University, which just fired Tommy Tuberville after a disappointing 5-7 2008 season. Tuberville, prior to that, had gone 42-9 over the past four seasons. Still, college football is tough business — a bad season at a football crazy school like Auburn can give you the yank. Okay, they ask, but why does Auburn choose to hire Gene Chizik (last two seasons: 5-19 at Iowa State) over Turner Gill (13-12 in his last two years at Buffalo — but this a school that went 2-10 his first year and whom he just lead to a first-ever MAC championship and first bowl appearance in school history)? College football in general, and deep south schools like Auburn in particular, are infected with good ol’ boy networks, and Gill is Black. (In fairness to southern schools, Gill also was passed over for a head coaching job by Syracuse, who elected to hire someone who had never been a head coach before at all).
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3 Responses to “Time for a Robinson Rule?”
the problem is that being a head football coach at a BCS school is a different job than any other coaching job. A black head basketball coach can get by with only recruiting black players (See John Thompson;s II and III). Also a basketball coach does not have to back slap the alumni as much as the football coach.
The head football coach is much more like a CEO who hires 10 or more assistant coaches, has to oversee assistants who do most of the recruting, has to fund raise with the alumni, has to be very media friendly, and has to keep his players eligible.
I believe that the boosters and athletic directors worry that black coaches just do not bring all of that to the table (either fairly or unfairly). I think one of the biggest unspoken concerns is whether a black head coach can recruit white players.
As an Auburn alum this strikes close to home. I honestly can't give a good reason why we fired Tuberville but Chizik's hiring was all good ole boy stuff. He was Defensive coordinatior the last time we went undefeated. The state of Alabama certainly has a racist element . But even the white sheet crowd would support a purple devil worshipper for head coach if they thought their team would win national championship. But if anyone in that slot stumbles at all there is no forgiveness.
Agian Auburn has its issues but to single us out for this is unfair. There have been quite a few head coaching jobs filled already this year and we weren't the only one that didn't hire Mr Gill.
True — in the linked post I note that Mr. Gill was also passed over by Syracuse, and a year before he was also snubbed by Nebraska (though he hadn't had his breakout season at that point).