College football programs are allowed to hire minority coaches. Strange, I know. I started reading through the NCAA’s overabundance of regulations (note to NCAA: the Constitution is four pages) and, eight weeks later, I can say with certainly that I didn’t see any rule against hiring a black head coach.
A lot will be written this week about Turner Gill, a black coach who transformed the worst program in America into a conference champion, because Gene Chizik beat him out for the Auburn job. Chizik, winless in the Big 12 this season at Iowa State but a former Auburn assistant, was the safe pick. Auburn did not want to take much of a chance.
So Gill remains at Buffalo, one of four black coaches at 119 schools. And Florida’s Charlie Strong, one of the finest defensive coordinators through the past decade, is still a fine defensive coordinator instead of a head coach.
An element of racism, big or small, must exist. Two SEC coaches told ESPN’s Mark Schlabach that Gill would not get the job because he married a white woman. Same for Strong. Charles Barkley, who minces words like he does food portions, said “race was the No. 1 factor” at Auburn, his alma mater.
Black college football coaches also need their version of John Thompson, the legendary coach of Georgetown basketball. They need the image of a minority college football coach raising a trophy. It can happen Friday in Chattanooga.
Sure, it will not occur in the main division of college football. But it’s a start, and the University of Richmond’s Mike London knows all about good starts.
We’ll hear a lot about Gill. Let’s talk about someone who got a chance.
London was a token interview at Richmond five years ago. Athletic director Jim Miller admits it. Not the kind of token interview we’re conditioned to think — because he’s black — but because he’s a Richmond graduate. Miller already knew he wanted to hire Dave Clawson.
So he interviewed London, then an assistant at Virginia, and London nailed the interview. After Clawson left for Tennessee, Miller knew who would replace him. He hired London a week later. Race was never an issue.
“Many people, when they’re looking to hire, want to make safe decisions that don’t put them at risk and hire the same people to do the same things,” Miller said. “We look for someone who is a good fit at the University of Richmond. Mike London is a great fit. The student-athletes love to play for him.”
London doesn’t want his first-year accomplishments — Richmond will play in the school’s first title game Friday against Montana — accompanied by a footnote concerning his race. That is not just a line.
London truly envisions a world where he’s judged solely as a coach, and we know this because Miller said the subject of race has never once been discussed between himself and London.
“I look at myself as a football coach who happens to be an African-American,” said London, one of five black coaches in the Football Championship Subdivision in 2008. “In this profession, you always want to be judged by what you do on the field, how your players conduct themselves in the classroom and off the field. And then compare apples to apples.
“The color of skin happens to figure into it when people want to look around and see what other candidates are out there. I just want to be judged as a football coach and let everyone else come up with the criteria that decides whether or not they think I’m good enough to be a coach here or a coach there. It is an interesting dialogue that’s going on in the country.”
The dialogue will turn positive Friday night at Finley Stadium. A black coach will lead his team in the national championship game. Maybe one day he’ll be known only as a great coach.
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