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Third & Short

BCA to create minority hiring report card for universities

The executive director of the Black Coaches Association, Floyd Keith said in late October that his organization and others intend to create a Hiring Report Card by August 2003 to grade and track the progress of minority football coaches, while giving players something to use when making their decision on which schools to attend.

The BCA called on colleges to fill at least one of every five head football coaching vacancies (20 percent) with a minority over the next three years. After a decade and a half of frustration over the scarcity of African-American coaches, the association is prepared to inform leading recruits of progress – or the lack of it – at specific schools, and, if needed, steer them away from programs that do not comply.

Keith has been challenging major universities to create more opportunities for minority candidates for years, since there are only four black coaches among the 230 Division I-A or Division I-AA schools, excluding the 21 historically black institutions in 1-AA. However, now Keith is trying a different approach.

Keith outlined a plan that will focus on four parts: Providing universities with knowledge of minority candidates, holding institutions accountable for their decisions and backing it up with political and financial pressure.

Keith wants schools to put diversification plans in writing to ensure they are followed and wants minorities included in the hiring process. He also would like NCAA certification to include a clause about diversifying football staffs.

He also set a goal of having one of every five college football head coaching jobs filled by a minority candidate by August 2005 and asked for incentives to be paid for “doing the right thing.”

Keith has also pledged that the Black Coaches Association and others will create a political advocacy group to work with local, state and national politicians in order to enact the policy.

If the groups do not see progress by August 2004, Keith said they would re-evaluate their three-year plan and consider other ways to force changes.