Blacked Out – The Strategic Disappearance of Minority Male Coaches and Directors

The idea of minority males in athletic administration is pretty much obsolete. According to a recent article, the Huffington Post revealed that African American men make up 70% of professional players in the National Football Association (NBA)2. In the National Basketball Association (NBA), they represent 75% per SportsGrid (O’Donnell, 2015)3. However, when asked how many Black are in administrative positions within these two organizations, the answer will startle most. ESPN reported that within the NFL “the Panthers, Jets, and Steelers are the only teams with coaching staffs composed of at least 50 percent of minorities” (Sando, 2016). Of thirty NBA teams, only 6 head coaches are Black (O’Donell, 2015). It should be recognized that some minority males do go into Athletic Administration after completing their undergraduate degree. The most commonly associated undergraduate degree is Sports Management. Atkins shares that sports management degrees “provide students with fundamental knowledge and skills centered on finance, management, marketing and law pertaining to the organizations in the sports industry.”1 In so many words, this degree becomes the business of the athletics field. Generating over $200 billion annually, those involved or have interest in sports have highly promising careers.1 However, in consideration of degree programs, prerequisites, course loads, and academic balance, this is a lesser sought out career field, and even fewer Black male students without a decorated sports background choose to enter this type of program.
Then, there are some that indirectly go into Athletic Administration (Coaching, Assistant Athletic Director, etc.) because of other primary collegiate paths. The first that comes to mind is Education where many students graduate with education degrees and upon being hired and as a supplemental task, become coaches or athletic directors at their schools. In Texas, one is NOT required to have a coaching degree – they simply need to have direct and referenced experiences (in addition to a teaching certification in any subject area) to be qualified. The problem is, however, while the number of those who enter the teaching fields continue to grow, there is also a great underrepresentation of Black males who teach. In this way, the number of Black male teachers (or lack thereof) also demonstrate a dwindling statistic of those who will be coaches at the middle or secondary levels of education. So, it should be noted that while it seems that there is a clear and direct pipeline for Black males to enter Athletic Administration at the undergraduate level, sadly the reality is that they do not. This could be the case for a couple of reasons. First, it could be because of the  lack of guidance at the high school and collegiate levels. When I think about my own experiences in education and sports, I had a demonstrated passion for football, but my mentors only considered my athletic abilities, and failed to navigate those talents to academic and career goals. Second, the dwindling representation of Blacks in sports management careers could also be the result of fewer models for those to look to coaching. A recent article published on BET online revealed that within the last three years, Black athletic administrators have decreased significantly 3. If younger Black boys aren’t shown that there are reputable Black coaches at the middle and secondary levels of their education, or even professionally, they will be less realistic in considering these as desired career paths. And finally, there is an overall lack of strategic recruiting into these career paths. Even considering movies about sports, there are numerous examples of “scouts” who come to high school games to consider recruiting players. However, there are NO instances in which these “scouts” discuss degree plan options or trajectories after college. It should also be noted that there are few instances in these movies where the scout is African American! What does that communicate to minority males? I would argue that it says “we don’t care about what you want to learn in college or even what you do in your life, we just want you to play for our team and score a lot of points.” In closing, the data doesn’t lie. Blacks are on the field or court, but they are not calling the shots. And, even before they enter  the  professional sports worlds, the career paths of athletic administration are never even realized due to lack to counseling, modeling, or strategic recruitment into these fields. This must change. In my next posting, we will dive deeper into this issue of the lack of minority males in athletic administration by considering more discreetly some of the numbers of collegiate players and their majors. And, I will also take time to discuss graduates and where they end up, if not in professional organizations across the nation. References 1Atkins, J. (2013, November 3). What is a sports management degree? Sports Management Degree Hub. Retrieved from http://www.sportsmanagementdegreehub.com/what-is-a-sports-management-degree/ 2Goodman, H. A. (2016, September 1). 70 Percent ff NFL Players are Black men. Colin Kaepernick Should Be Praised, Not Condemned: “So, what is this country really standing for?” The Huffington Post. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/70-of-nfl-players-are-black-men-colin-kaepernick_us_57c7b12be4b07addc4114047 3Lelinwalla, M. (2016, November 6). Are Black coaches in the NBA a dying breed? BET. Retrieved from http://www.bet.com/news/sports/2015/11/06/are-black-coaches-in-the-nba-a-dying-breed.html O’Donnell, J. (2015, May 13). Stephen A. Smith thinks that advanced stats guys are squeezing Black coaches out of the NBA. SportsGrid. Retrieved from http://www.sportsgrid.com/as-seen-on-tv/media/stephen-a-smith-thinks-advanced-stats-guys-are-squeezing-black-coaches-out-of-the-nba/Sando, M. (2016, July 19). Rooney rule in reverse: Minority coaching hires have stalled. ESPN. Retrieved from http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/17101097/staggering-numbers-show-nfl-minority-coaching-failure-rooney-rule-tony-dungy