How important is it to have some African American representation on your football coaching staff?

Edit to add some background:

I am not trying to bait anyone or start a terrible thread. Our team just won it's first ever bowl game with an Interim HC who was African American; many players were outspoken on Social Media about how much they liked the guy, unfortunately he is moving on to coach somewhere else. I have no idea the racial makeup of the other staffs in the SB or what our new staff will look like, I just wondered what others' thoughts were on the subject.

This can only end well. Are you starting a hockey team? And even then.

(12-31-2015 11:16 AM)StanMolsonMan Wrote:  This can only end well. Are you starting a hockey team? And even then.

I added football to the poll title. I hope we can have a mature discussion, I'm just interested in people's thoughts on the matter.

Not sure what it has to do with X's and O's.

(12-31-2015 11:19 AM)TheEagleWay Wrote:  Not sure what it has to do with X's and O's.

Is the board restricted to X's and O's? You can add OT to the thread title if you want, or I can do it if I'm able.

(12-31-2015 11:21 AM)boroeagle2 Wrote:  

(12-31-2015 11:19 AM)TheEagleWay Wrote:  Not sure what it has to do with X's and O's.

Is the board restricted to X's and O's? You can add OT to the thread title if you want, or I can do it if I'm able.

No, I'm saying what does race have to do with a the X's and O's of football.

(12-31-2015 11:22 AM)TheEagleWay Wrote:  

(12-31-2015 11:21 AM)boroeagle2 Wrote:  

(12-31-2015 11:19 AM)TheEagleWay Wrote:  Not sure what it has to do with X's and O's.

Is the board restricted to X's and O's? You can add OT to the thread title if you want, or I can do it if I'm able.

No, I'm saying what does race have to do with a the X's and O's of football.

Nothing, but football is played, coached, and cheered on by people, and people have different thoughts about this topic, I was interested to see what people's thoughts were.

(12-31-2015 11:27 AM)boroeagle2 Wrote:  

(12-31-2015 11:22 AM)TheEagleWay Wrote:  

(12-31-2015 11:21 AM)boroeagle2 Wrote:  

(12-31-2015 11:19 AM)TheEagleWay Wrote:  Not sure what it has to do with X's and O's.

Is the board restricted to X's and O's? You can add OT to the thread title if you want, or I can do it if I'm able.

No, I'm saying what does race have to do with a the X's and O's of football.

Nothing, but football is played, coached, and cheered on by people, and people have different thoughts about this topic, I was interested to see what people's thoughts were.

I'm not trying to discourage the discussion at all.

I often find that players will respect and love the good ones regardless of race. By the end of the game everyone is covered in blood/sweat/dirt.

(12-31-2015 11:31 AM)TheEagleWay Wrote:  

(12-31-2015 11:27 AM)boroeagle2 Wrote:  

(12-31-2015 11:22 AM)TheEagleWay Wrote:  

(12-31-2015 11:21 AM)boroeagle2 Wrote:  

(12-31-2015 11:19 AM)TheEagleWay Wrote:  Not sure what it has to do with X's and O's.

Is the board restricted to X's and O's? You can add OT to the thread title if you want, or I can do it if I'm able.

No, I'm saying what does race have to do with a the X's and O's of football.

Nothing, but football is played, coached, and cheered on by people, and people have different thoughts about this topic, I was interested to see what people's thoughts were.

I'm not trying to discourage the discussion at all.

I often find that players will respect and love the good ones regardless of race. By the end of the game everyone is covered in blood/sweat/dirt.

I think you are right about that.

I'm not black and I'm not 20 anymore, so I can't answer this but I would imagine it would have some level of importance. Things change in a hurry and this current generation may not give a crap though. For example, women in traditional male roles at work would have been new and unusual to my parents and I've never thought twice about it.

Coach McClendon will be the first black coach at UGA tomorrow too. All good stuff.

All I'm going to say is that some players, no matter the race, have a tendency to want to follow coaches that they feel they can relate to. That relation can be many factors....race, field position, economics, etc...

It's nice to have someone who understands your cultural background in leadership at any job you are considering and I think it would likely make recruits feel slightly more comfortable in that first recruiting encounter when a lot is unknown. But I'm not sure it matters that much beyond that because black players can figure out who are quality people and who aren't without a racial aspect.

My .02 as a middle aged suburban white kid that grew up in Cobb County, but the Bankhead part of Cobb County is yes. It is a necessity.

An authority figure you can relate to, and that goes beyond the Xs and Os. I wish I could say we live in this great society race, religion, or gender never matters. People first is all that matters and the rest is just details. But we are not there yet. Without a doubt in my mind the greatest athlete of my time is Bo Jackson. A great person to look up to. Humble. Overcame stuttering which can be crippling to yourself if you let it. If I had a son, and he asked me who he should look up to, Bo would be on the top of the list. Not everyone is like that though. I think of a football team as a business. The coaches run the business. The athletes are the customers. In today's world, if you do not have a management team that reflects the customer base you want to attract, you are making it harder on yourself. There is a sizable segment of every breakdown of population that would rather deal with someone they feel they can relate to. I think you have to have a mix.

Given the media state we live in. Let say you have an all white staff, and some racial things happen on the team. White kids intimidating the black kids. N word gets used. You have set your staff up to be fired as soon as someone says they came to a coach and nothing got resolved. It is a black eye a university doesn't need. And for common sense reasons... there are at least 15 paid coaching positions on most FBS teams from head coach to strength and conditioning. 63% of the US population is non-Hispanic caucasian, 17% Black, 13% Hispanic, and then a mix of the rest. With the color lines being broken in the NFL 70 years ago, and the majority of college football athletes today being black... I'd believe you'd be setting your school up for scrutiny if the best candidate for at least three of those 15 positions wasn't a black hire. Not because of affirmative action, but because of the law of averages between the population breakdown, and the people who have played.

Blacks gain majority of college football rosters

So my personal answer is definitely, but not because kids will feel more comfortable, but because I believe it would be impossible to have the best possible coaching roster without African-American coaches on it and multiple at that.

(12-31-2015 12:01 PM)StanMolsonMan Wrote:  Given the media state we live in. Let say you have an all white staff, and some racial things happen on the team. White kids intimidating the black kids. N word gets used. You have set your staff up to be fired as soon as someone says they came to a coach and nothing got resolved.

That sounds more like a low-quality white staff problem instead of a no black coaches problem. If you have a staff that's going to let that happen...then adding a black coach isn't going to solve that underlying problem.

(12-31-2015 12:14 PM)ark30inf Wrote:  

(12-31-2015 12:01 PM)StanMolsonMan Wrote:  Given the media state we live in. Let say you have an all white staff, and some racial things happen on the team. White kids intimidating the black kids. N word gets used. You have set your staff up to be fired as soon as someone says they came to a coach and nothing got resolved.

That sounds more like a low-quality white staff problem instead of a no black coaches problem. If you have a staff that's going to let that happen...then adding a black coach isn't going to solve that underlying problem.

Look at Joe Paterno. Coaches can turn a blind eye to things. Things they don't think are a big deal can become one. I am just saying, it opens up that box.

(12-31-2015 12:20 PM)StanMolsonMan Wrote:  

(12-31-2015 12:14 PM)ark30inf Wrote:  

(12-31-2015 12:01 PM)StanMolsonMan Wrote:  Given the media state we live in. Let say you have an all white staff, and some racial things happen on the team. White kids intimidating the black kids. N word gets used. You have set your staff up to be fired as soon as someone says they came to a coach and nothing got resolved.

That sounds more like a low-quality white staff problem instead of a no black coaches problem. If you have a staff that's going to let that happen...then adding a black coach isn't going to solve that underlying problem.

Look at Joe Paterno. Coaches can turn a blind eye to things. Things they don't think are a big deal can become one. I am just saying, it opens up that box.

Not sure Paterno is a good example, but I can see where recognizing a problem in a different cultural context can be problematic.

I think Stan nailed it.

The best coaching staffs I played for were ones where the coaches grew up in or could relate to the same conditions that the players are immersed in.

I was lucky that both of my high schools had coaches perfectly suited for their teams. When I lived in PA, I went to a school that was about 20% farmers' kids, 40% middle class, and 40% lower middle class/close to poverty line. It was a tricky mix, but there were some very different coaches that different groups of players gravitated towards.

When I moved to Cobb County, the vast majority of students in my school and on the football team were upper middle class. The coaching staff there was a more homogenous group and there were fewer cliques amongst the players since we're were much more similar from and economic and cultural standpoint.

I agree that a coach can connect with and get the respect of players regardless of race, but it's also true that first impressions count for a lot and that most people are much more willing to immediately trust and accept someone who looks and acts like they're coming from a similar road in life.

(12-31-2015 11:11 AM)boroeagle2 Wrote:  How important is it to have some African American representation on your football coaching staff?

Edit to add some background:

I am not trying to bait anyone or start a terrible thread. Our team just won it's first ever bowl game with an Interim HC who was African American; many players were outspoken on Social Media about how much they liked the guy, unfortunately he is moving on to coach somewhere else. I have no idea the racial makeup of the other staffs in the SB or what our new staff will look like, I just wondered what others' thoughts were on the subject.

Soo basically your asking:

We lost our token black guy do you think that will hurt us?

Unfortunately, popular culture has devolved to a state where systems are blamed for individual behavior and responsibility falls on authority rather than individuals. While driving a wedge between people using race, religion, gender, socioeconomic status, and sexuality the very same "advocates for change" consolidate and expand their own power using Fascist tactics of policing speech, requiring demographic quotas, and of course "leveling the playing field" taking from the successful and giving to the unsuccessful.

Again unfortunately, I think racial quotas for everything are here. It's interesting that we don't require quotas for team members yet because the answer is, "we just want the best players no matter what color". Which reasoning is more or less racist?

1. The majority of coaches are white because the best coaches just happen to be white.
2. The majority of players are black because the best players just happen to be black.

Either both are true or both are false.

I think a black coach helps those individuals who lean towards being a racist. Same thing for any white male who says he would rather play (or be recruited by) a white coach.

If you're 18 years old and you can't look past the color of a man's skin or his accent (while being recruited or being taught how to play the game of football), then you have racism in you.

It's simple as that.

I've been led by multiple race and gender individuals. I've never looked at that person and said "this person isn't like me so I can't relate to them".

My .02 cents