Black Coaches Association issues report card on minority hiring

Diverse Issues in Higher Education, Dec 1, 2005

INDIANAPOLIS

The University of Notre Dame received a B on the minority hiring report card released recently by the Black Coaches Association, even though the Fighting Irish fired head football coach Tyrone Willingham after the 2004 season.

Notre Dame was one of eight schools in Division I-A or I-AA to receive a B, while five schools--including the University of South Carolina and the University of Utah--received an F.

Schools are evaluated on categories that include the percentage of minorities involved in the hiring process, the number of minority candidates who interviewed and the schools' contacts with either BCA executive director Floyd Keith or the chairman of the NCAA's Minority Opportunity and Interests Committee.

The Black football coaches at three schools-Notre Dame, New Mexico State University and San Jose State University--either were fired or quit after last season. Notre Dame received the highest grade of the three.

New Mexico State received a C on the report card after firing Tony Samuel. San Jose State was given an F, failing in three of five categories. The University of Washington, which hired Willingham after his release by Notre Dame, received a B.

Ohio University and Western Michigan University were the only schools to receive A's across the board. Indiana University, the University of Illinois and the University of Nevada Las Vegas finished with an overall A grade.

Indiana State University, which hired Lou West as the only Black head coach in Division I-AA not at a historically Black school, received a C. It was given an F for the number of minorities included on the search committees and scored a B for "documented" compliance with its own affirmative action policies.

Keith advised student-athletes to use the report card when making decisions about attending college and suggested the BCA would consider legal action if there is not significant progress next year, based on hiring inequity.

Only three Division I-A football programs currently have Black coaches--Sylvester Croom of Mississippi State University, Karl Dorrell of the University of California, Los Angeles and Willingham.

--Associated Press