36 • January 20, 2022 - January 26, 2022
THE NEW YORK AMSTERDAM NEWS
Sports The NFL’s record on Black head coaches remains abysmal By JAIME C. HARRIS AmNews Sports Editor
(Bill Moore photo)
fensible reason why team owners continue to hire white coaches who have less experience and tangible skill sets One! than their Black counterparts. OstensiThat’s the number bly, the most obvious and logical supof current Black head position is that all but one of the NFL coaches in the NFL out team owners are white. The exception is of its 32 teams. It’s imthe Jacksonville Jaguars’ Shahid Khan. perative to note that A Pakistani-American, Khan’s last head 70% of the league’s coaching hire, Urban Meyer, was an players are Black. The abject failure who lasted less than one alarmingly low ratio full year before being fired a little over a should be a critical conmonth ago with a record of 2-11. cern of everyone who is The implication is white owners feel a proponent of equity in far more comfortable and reassured both the public and priplacing their multi-billion dollar propThe Pittsburgh Steelers Mike Tomlin is currently vate workforce. erty in the hands of someone with a But to state the NFL’s the NFL’s only Black head coach shared ideological background. The collective hiring pracfeeling of similarity is the unquantifitices of head coaches is rooted in racial coaches and potential coaches in com- able elephant in the room that Black and cultural bias is not appropriately as- parison to white coaches as dispropor- coaches cannot overcome. They are at a cribing the dire circumstances qualified tionate. disadvantage due to factors that should Black candidates face. The Pittsburgh “There is a double standard. I don’t not be but are paramount. Steelers’ 49-year-old Mike Tomlin, who think that that is something we should Entering this season there were only has not had a losing season in 15 years at shy away from,” Vincent said to the three Black head coaches, Tomlin, the the helm, is the league’s lone Black man Washington Post last week. “But that is Miami Dolphins’ Brian Flores, a Brookholding the position out of 32 franchises. part of some of the things that we need lyn native of Honduran descent, and Troy Vincent, the NFL’s executive vice to fix in the system.” David Culley of the Houston Texans. president of football operations, views Yes, the dearth of Black head coaches Flores and Culley were both fired this the matter of assessing Black head is inarguably systemic. There is no de- month following the end of the NFL
regular season. The 40-year-old Flores has been widely commended for establishing a winning foundation for the Dolphins in his three seasons as head coach, amassing a record of 19-14 over the last two. The 66-year-old Culley entered a dysfunctional environment marred by the sexual misconduct scandal hovering over the Texans’ star quarterback Deshaun Watson and instilled respectibilty and pride into a talent-deficient team that played hard all season despite going 4-13. While eligible to play, Watson requested a trade last January and did not dress for any of the Texans’ 17 games. The only other so-called minority head coaches are the Jets’ Robert Saleh of Lebanese descent, born and raised in Michigan, and the Washington Football Team’s Ron Rivera, a California product and the NFL’s only Latino—Rivera is Puerto Rican—head coach. Today, there are eight NFL head coach openings to fill. History says most will be apportioned to non-Blacks. The outcry already should have been clarion. This is not a sports concern in a vacuum. It is a microcosm of society that has far-reaching significance.
Brooklyn Nets host informative discussion for NYC youth Last Saturday, the Brooklyn Nets hosted their annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. celebration at which the team honored Dr. King’s lasting impact and inspiration. A group of students from Good Shepherd Services, a youth development and family service agency, attended the game. Also part of the MLK celebration, last week a group of employees in the Brooklyn Nets’ Black Alliance Network participated in a virtual panel discussion with the group from Good Shepherd to discuss career paths in the sports industry. “A lot of times I find myself talking to people who are in college and often they’re already in sports management programs,” said Adina Erwin, general manager of Barclays Center, home of the Nets. “Whereas in high school and some of the younger people, they haven’t figured it out and they’re not exposed to information about how they can get involved.” The panelists described careers in the sports industry from creative design to operations to finance to sponsorships to arena management. They also discussed how the Black Alliance Network enables them to find a support system
The panelists also explained that there are possibilities to work in and around sports that do not involve a college degree. Mentoring is important regardless of the career path. “Once you get into these spaces, you need to be able to call on someone to help you AM NEWS navigate, to 01024 answer quesAM NE 01/06/22 tions and be honest01/06/ and 0 7 74470 authentic,” 22784 said Erwin. “The panel discussion helped me think about preparing myself for the future by knowing that others are facing the same Adina Erwin situation,” said VeroniAM NEWS 01034 ca. “Hearing their stories AM NE 01/13/22 among other people of color working in color to see what is possible. “Making and0what got them to be7the best of them01/13/ 74470 22784 the Nets organization and BSE Global. sure that I do my job well so that little selves uplifts me and makes me feel that I “Sharing their stories and journeys brown girls can see me in these spaces,” can make my dreams come true.” and how that got them to work at Bar- said Erwin. “When you see other people clays Center,” said Veronica, 16, an as- who look like you in spaces, then even piring graphic artist who participated in subconsciously you begin to think, ‘I the discussion and felt a connection to might be able to do this.’ the experiences of the panelists. In par“The second is to get opportunities AM NEWS 01044 AM NE ticular, a creative director spoke about like we did with Good Shepherd to have 01/20/22 01/20/ 0 7 how his interest in art fueled him. conversations with girls about all the 74470 22784 Erwin told the students that she different opportunities that exist in this wanted to be a guiding light for girls of space,” she added. (BSE Global) photo)
By LOIS ELFMAN Special to the AmNews
