Dave, thanks for going straight at the jugular of this agonizing issue. I get so mad that I choke. I've learned how it feels to see red. I love it that you offer options for direct action. Let's hope Barkley isn't reduced to a single voice crying in the wilderness. We need to hear from more black athletes. When are you going to enable readers to share your column with their Facebook networks?

big fan, but where were you headed that you couldn't take the time to read this thing over, important as it was as a subject

I almost wonder if someone hacked it?

Hypothetically speaking, let's just say all the blue chip/5 star black athletes decide to play for the 4 black Head Coaches in Div 1, let's just see if how long it takes for the boosters, ADs and school presidents to rethink that good 'ole boy system they have now. Just a thought.

I counted about 5 grammatical errors and typos in the first quarter of this article before I stopped reading. If you can't write beyond a 3rd grade level why would anyone want to read you? You just come across looking dumb.

But the typos in this piece made it difficult to read. Your words are too important to be so poorly treated. Thanks.

What does reference to Oregon State have to do with story? Are you confusing OSU basketball and Craig Robinson (brother-in-law of Obama)? Where does the OSU football coaching staff fit into this topic?

I won't comment on the typos, but the logic in this article is actually really poor. First, let me state that there are quite a few African-American assistant coaches who absolutely deserve to be head coaches--and quite frankly, the reason that they are not already is due to the color of their skin. Charlie Strong at Florida instantly comes to mind. There's no reason that DeWayne Walker at UCLA isn't a head coach by now either. While his star has fallen over the past couple of years, the same argument could be made for Ron English at Louisville (previously Michigan). One thing that has unquestionably hurt Strong and Turner Gill at Buffalo is that they are married to white women, which is, obviously, unjustly frowned upon at SEC schools.

However, I also think that there is another reason othat we have overlooked as far as why these African-American head coaches have not been hired yet--it is very difficult to fire them. Take Tyrone Willingham. He had every opportunity to succeed at Washington. Just like any white coach who underperformed, he was fired. However, it is more difficult for people to fire African-American head coaches due to lack of performance, mainly due to a fear of being branded a racist. Thus, I think that athletic directors shy away from hiring qualified African Americans due to the fact that they cannot correct their mistakes as easily as when they hire a white coach.

Secondly, as far as a plantation economy, those figures are greatly misleading Take the University of Michigan. With the cost of tuition, a student athlete who redshirts his freshman year receives $235,000 in tuition assistance over the course of his five years. This does not even take into account the amount of money that is spent on giving students gear, uniforms, and paying for both the cost to recruit them as well as to transport them to different games. I do believe that these scholarships should be extended for student athletes for however long it takes them to graduate. Too often, universities encourage them to take fewer courses, thus putting them in a precarious position as far as graduating on time. However, also lost in the figure is that these athletic departments actually LOSE money from their athletic programs. The average football program, in fact, loses $20 million per calendar year. Thus, to look at college athletics as a "plantation economy" is quite misleading.

I'm not going to comment on the economics, anon, but your assertion about not-hiring-because-of-firing borders on the ridiculous. Even if it were true, rationalizing it is simply admitting to blatant racism. Poor logic? Here's poor logic: "We'll be racists for fear of being portrayed as racists."

And to all of you schoolmarms suddenly getting up on your high horse, I propose that the corrupt spelling, grammar, and typos in this posting cannot POSSIBLY be Dave's. Something wicked this way comes.

I'm not trying to rationalize it; it is blatant racism. There is absolutely no excuse for Charlie Strong, DeWayne Walker or Turner Gill not to be head coaches at BCS-level schools. Even when an African-American coach gets hired as a head coach, it is rare for you to see them get the first opportunity at an elite BCS-level school a la Bob Stoops, Phil Fulmer, or Lloyd Carr. The athletic director who makes the decision is cowardly at best, and racist at worse.

However, you are being naive if you think that idea doesn't even enter into the athletic director's mind.

Yep I kin rite jus as gud as Dayv Zirrn. "But the SEC has had only on Afrincan-American head coanc in its history" What be a coanc? What a friggin' moron. Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!

Grow a brain and get back to us!!!

1. Isn't saying blacks are hard to fire pretty much racist bologna?

2. I had a pretty good chuckle thinking about how "hard" it is to fire Ty Willingham every couple of years (Like U-Dub had such difficulty. And Notre Dame's finding it much harder to fire the much less successful Charlie Weiss, but I suppose facts and stuff just complicate a good argument). I'll bet he wishes it WAS harder (or that he stayed at Stanford where he was a great fit).

I'll say this... hiring Chizik instead of anybody else, let alone Turner Gill, was a real head scratcher. Chizik ofer-ed the Big12 last season. His hiring reeks of Old Boy Network. Chizik was a coordinator at Auburn and was very popular, but his resume as a head coach is horrible.

But I've gotta say something else. More blacks will be hired as head coaches when some of the few blacks who are getting hired now start making the most of the opportunities they are given. Willingham got fired because the Huskies have been horrible and went 0-12. Prince and Croom were losers too.

There are lots of black head coaches in Division 1 basketball. Why? John Thompson. Tubby Smith. Nolan Richardson. Clem Haskins. Don Chaney. All these coaches took their teams to long term, consistent national prominence.

There are 4 black head basketball coaches in the PAC10 alone right now. Romar, Kent, Johnson, Robinson. That's 40%. All except Robinson, who is in his first year, have had notable success on the national level.

Who among black football coaches in the NCAA have done the same? Willingham did well at Stanford, and it got him the Notre Dame job. Then he messed up and got fired, but got the Washington job based on his success at Stanford, and REALLY messed up at UW.

More blacks will be hired when there are more successful black coaches. And the reality is that every coach is under pressure to win. Coaches that lose don't last.

You gotta hand it to them, they are fearless and unapologetic. You go, racists!

Suuuure, and the 96.7% of white head coaches all have spotless winning records....right, that must be it!!

Un-flippin'-believable.

Tyrone Willingham at Notre Dame is the exception to the rule. He was treated unfairly, and Weis should have been fired by now. He is the exception to the rule. Willingham went 1-10, 5-7, 4-9 his first three years at Washington. Sly Croom went 3-8, 3-9, 3-9 his first three years at Mississippi State. There was tremendous fan pressure for both to be fired. (And don't give me the fans are racist crap--go to an Auburn message board and ask how many of them wouldn't trade Chizik for Turner Gill in a heartbeat). Croom went 21-38 in five years at Mississippi State, with a lack of any visible progress on the offensive side of the football. And yet people like you are crying racism when he gets fired. Why can't Croom be judged on his cocahing merits rather than the color of his skin?

This is about racist hiring practices, not firing practices, you ninkompoop!!

I think it's interesting that none of the folks like anon and dooj don't address the point that barkley made that black coaches aren't put in situations where they can win consistently...

once again twice as good to get half as far.

Hard to fire black head coaches? Ty Willingham was fired at UW as his first contract expired. There was no hand wringing, no accusations of prejudice. He was just fired. DZ and Barkley are entirely correct and the facts (and logic) support their arguments. You really should put a little more effort into your "thought process" if it can be called that.

This is just dumb college sports but can white people imagine the impact of this thought process on the lives of Black people

This is just dumb college sports but can white people imagine the impact of this thought process on the lives of Black people

It's like that Chris Rock joke. A Black man has to fly to get some ish that a white man just walk to.

One of the more idiotic counter-points to the charge of racism is that Turner Gills coaching didn't fit with the SEC's "style". Seriously, that was the argument. So because Gene Chizik coaches a program that fits the "style" of the conference he gets the job despite the fact he probably couldn't coach his way out of a paper bag?

I wonder if our president will have an opinion on this like he had on the BCS

Yeah, Gil's not white - definitely not the SEC "style"

and FWIW, Croom took over a program that is historically the SEC's weakest and hadn't won 4 games since 2000.

In response to your article, the collegiate players must take a stand collectively. These players must place demands to these institution. Place a demand, and if that demand is not met, then there should be a course of action. If that action means the boycott of a major bowl game, then so be it! Change never came from the top.

I understand that bigots will post to the site. But please don't insult my grammar and spelling skills. The article was formatted incorrectly. Now it's corrected. Please try to recover and move on.

Freedom Now, if you took the time to actually read my post, you would see that I did in fact state that a problem was that African-American head coaches didn't get opportunities at big-time BCS schools like Bob Stoops, Phil Fulmer, or Lloyd Carr. Next time you call someone a bigot, look at what they actualy said; to hurl accusations lessens your credibility.

The dirth of Black football coaches may be startling to those who regard themselves as "color-blind." Others, still, may be resentful that this glaring issue is being brought tot he forefront. Many of have noticed this problem since we were kids watching sports on TV. When we questioned the issue, we we chastised and told that "political correctness" had no place in sports. It is that sort of logic that has turned me off of sports. To me, truth, fairness and equality are more important than trying to compete but then later coming up short due to racism.

Considering the number of African-American assistants eligible every year in relation to the number of actual African-American coaches hired, it is reasonable to think there is racism involved in the hiring process.

Some of you, however, are barking up the wrong tree in terms of rationale behind the racism. Indeed there was a time when college football was a good ol' boy network, but those days are fading fast, if not gone already. Not necessarily that programs are more enlightened, but that the sport is now a major industry unto itself rather than just some regional pastime. Nationwide college football gets some of the best television ratings in all of sports. Other sports teams at a university cost money, most of which is generated by the school's football team. Coaches in Division I can make 2-5 million a year. All this adds up to serious business. Joe Paterno and Bobby Bowden have the luxury of staying at their position till death or retirement. Every other coach can and will be replaced if he stinks. Most athletic directors these days are corporate types. The salaries are high and there is too much riding on the line for an AD to risk his own job. If his football coach messes up, he could be next to go.

Turner Gill may or may not have been the best candidate Auburn could have hired this year. At least his resume indicates he was a better one than Chizik--2-14 in Big 12 play last 2 seasons: great assistant, mediocre to awful head coach. Was this decision racist? If not racist, this hire certainly looks foolish. Rest assured, though, that when Chizik fails, he will not coach through the end of his contract, let alone get an extension. If Auburn only gave a proven coach like Tuberville one losing season, a green Chizik will be lucky if he gets the chance to lose games and lose to his rivals.

If there is racism, it is in the rationale that if most African American head coaches have failed to impress, then this next one will do no better. Ron Cooper, John Blake, Ty Willingham, Sylvester Croom, and Carl Dorell have not exactly proven to skeptics that an African-American coach can build and maintain a program over any length of time.

Some of you dismiss as ridiculous the notion that athletic directors will not hire a black coach for fear that they will have to fire that same coach in the event of incompetence, and on top of all else that goes along with replacing a coach, the program will face the taint of racism. I think it is reasonable to think that this thought crosses their minds. For those who doubt it, ask yourself this: Tom Tuberville was let go 4 years after an undefeated season. Phil Fulmer after 1 BCS championship, and only 1 year removed from playing in the SEC championship. While I can understand some reasons for getting rid of both, can you honestly say that if an African-American coach were booted after similar achievements, would you not think the dismissal was racially motivated?

Supposidly, Crimson Tide Icon Bear Bryant started allowing Blacks to play for Alabama because his segregated teams were getting walked on by those Black football players Bryant hadn't be recruiting. Bear wasn't suddenly filled with a belief in the brotherhood of man. He wanted to win football games.

Schools that refuse to hire qualified and over-qualified Black coaches, and instead just pass around retreads and proven losers from the same old list of fair-haired failures, those are schools that are announcing to their students and alums that winning is not a priority.

Blacks aren't smart enough to fly, aren't smart enough to be doctors or judges or teachers or quarterbacks or U.S. Presidents. The folks that live to exclude and exploit are running out clubhouses to call their own.

It's cold comfort to those Black coaches who have been snubbed and Black listed so far, but at some point, more schools will get serious about winning. And there will be a wealth of patient, overly-qualified Black candidates waiting to clean up some under-whelming, unqualified loser's mess.

Perhaps the people who mismanage these football farms will find the Jan. 20, 2009 inauguration to be instructive.

You clowns you want to get out the red pen and proof read go get some alphabet soup and yell at your soup bowl.

"Oh heaven's Me my panties are in such a bunch by the Grammer I just can not continue reading this piece".....

Is this what it's all come down to? Are American's really this uppity and pansy? That's more annoying then the bigot's.......

My apologies. I did not notice that you had written your initial post...

However, when did i call someone a bigot? I was simply thought it was funny a.k.a. interesting that neither you (now i see that you had addressed it) or dooj had addressed that point of barkley's claims about black coaching opportunities...

So yeah.... i don't see where i was calling anyone a bigot....

I am a University at Buffalo Law School graduate. What Turner Gill has done in Buffalo is one of the great untold stories in College football. UB has been a division I program for only about TEN YEARS!!! Before that they were a losing team. WHen they were promoted to Division I they were PATHETIC!

Turner Gill, in only a few seasons, has made UB a contender and appeared in the school's first Bowl (Second invitation - 1958 team turned down a bowl bid because Bowl committee would not allow black players).

Gill should be on the top of the list for any team looking for a new coach. As a UB alum, I am very pleased that he is still here, though saddened by the reason - southern racism.