Black coaches make history during the NFL's preseason

A big deal is not normally made about preseason games because they do not count as a win or a loss, or because star players decline to play to avoid injury. However, when the Cincinnati Bengals' new head coach Marvin Lewis faced the New York Jets' coach Herman Edwards during the NFL's first full week of preseason, it was a big deal--the two made history--it was the first time two participants in the NFL's Minority Coaching Fellowship Program met as NFL head coaches.

Lewis and Edwards are among the nearly 900 coaches who have worked in training camps of NFL teams since the program's 1987 inception.

Edwards interned with the Kansas City Chiefs in 1989. Lewis, in his first year as an NFL head coach, interned with the San Francisco 49ers in 1988 and the Chiefs in 1991. Currently, another 81 Black coaches are participating during training camp this year as the NFL promotes minority hiring. Edwards, Lewis and the Colts' Tony Dungy are the only Black head coaches in the NFL.

Unfortunately, the Jets spoiled Lewis' big debut, beating the Bengals 28-13 in New Jersey (the Jets' actual home stadium is in New Jersey).

"I told him to continue to believe in the process of how you want to develop your football team and hang in there," Edwards said with high hopes for his friend. "I wished him a lot of luck. I think he's going to do good things there."