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Dungy To Colleges: Ignore Boosters, Hire 'Best' Coach

Associated Press file photo

In an op-ed piece in the New York Times, former NFL coach Tony Dungy scrutinizes the hiring practices in college athletics.

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TBO.com

Published: February 20, 2009

Updated: 02/20/2009 10:57 am

TAMPA - Former Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach Tony Dungy, in a New York Times op-ed piece, is asking college athletic directors to ignore pressure from alumni and boosters and hire the best coaching candidates "regardless of race."

Dungy's article, headlined "Diversity Everywhere But the Sidelines," came out Thursday, the same day the Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport gave college athletics its lowest grade for diversity hiring practices of any sport researched.

Dungy wrote that college head coaches and athletic directors told him last spring that the biggest reason only seven of 120 major college football programs had black head coaches has to do with "other people associated with the universities."

"It was not just the president and the athletic director who made the hiring decisions — alumni and boosters were involved, and the presidents often felt pressure to hire coaches the boosters would support," wrote Dungy, who led the Indianapolis Colts to a Super Bowl title in 2006-07 and retired this year.

Dungy wrote that over the past decade he had been contacted by several universities looking for head coaches and seeking recommendations. None of his recommendations – including Mike Tomlin, who recently led the Pittsburgh Steelers to a Super Bowl title – were hired.

"Shouldn't minority students be able to see role models of diverse leadership at the college level?" Dungy wrote. "How long should we give a pass to these institutions that should be at the forefront of diversity?"

The issue was magnified when former Auburn and NBA star Charles Barkley criticized his former school in December, saying the only reason it did not hire the University of Buffalo's Turner Gill as head coach was because Gill is black. After interviewing Gill, Auburn hired Gene Chizik, who had a 5-19 record in two seasons at Iowa State.

The poor grade by the sports institute, which is based at the University of Central Florida, reflected a "need for new strategies for more opportunities for people of color and women," wrote Richard Lapchick, the study's author. "This is the worst report card for college sport in many years."

In response, Charlotte Westerhaus, the NCAA vice president for diversity and inclusion, noted there will be nine black head coaches in the Division I Football Bowl Subdivision in 2009, the highest number ever.

"We are definitely on the road to improvement," Westerhaus said. "And while we have not yet turned the corner, we can at least see it in the distance."

Dungy's opinion piece says no magic formula or task forces are needed.

"Our universities merely need to do what's right — hire the best candidates, regardless of race," he wrote. "We'll see diversity as those minority coaches win their share of championships. I think Mike Tomlin proved that this month."

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

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