Firing of Willingham continues negative trend

INDIANAPOLIS – When Notre Dame selected Tyrone Willingham as its head coach three years ago, Richard Lapchick called it the most important hire in college football history.

Lapchick, head of the Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport at the University of Central Florida, believes Willingham’s firing Tuesday – coupled with the departure of two other black coaches in the last eight days – sends a different message.

“I’ve heard a lot of white head coaches say when they’re hired, ‘I knew if I worked hard and prepared hard and produced good football players, I’d get a chance to be a head coach,’ ” Lapchick said. “African-Americans don’t have that same dream. It’s a dream deferred.”

The recent moves leave only two black head coaches in place for next season in Division I-A football: Karl Dorrell at UCLA and Sylvester Croom at Mississippi State.

At Division I-AA, when historically black institutions such as Grambling are excluded, there are no black head coaches.

In 1998, it appeared some progress was being made when the number of I-A black coaches reached a record number of eight.

This season, there were five.

That number was reduced when Fitz Hill resigned at San Jose State on Nov. 22 after four straight losing seasons. It dropped again when New Mexico State fired Tony Samuel last Wednesday. Then came Willingham’s dismissal.

The firings are a blow for the Black Coaches Association, which since 2002 has attempted to make minority hiring a more prominent issue.

In October, the group released its first minority report card, which showed most universities were increasing efforts to recruit minority candidates, something NCAA president Myles Brand has encouraged.

BCA executive director Floyd Keith predicted the Notre Dame announcement would be a setback to those efforts.

“This action sends an alarming message to African-Americans who are pursuing coaching at the Division I-A level,” Keith said. “It’s still going to be tough.”

Lapchick said opportunities for black coaches often seem to come at schools that lack winning traditions. A study he did this year showed that the median rank of the five schools with black coaches was 77th out of 117.

“That’s very much a part of the problem – how do you get out of the hole?” he said.

Willingham, with one of the most prominent jobs in college football, was the exception. But in the end, his 21-15 record – and no bowl game victories – in three seasons sealed his fate.