An Examination of Racial Diversity in Collegiate Football

Transitions to the Top

“…As a result of measuring key human capital indicators prior to the start of coaches' careers (e.g., education and playing experience), the present study was unable to isolate whether the negative effects of job-level segregation on promotions operates though limiting noncentral coaches' and enhancing central coaches' human capital development. However, given that prior research has found minimal effects of human capital measures on occupational status attainment within the coaching profession (Day & McDonald, 2010;Finch et al, 2010;Loy & Sage, 1978;, evidence of racial differences in returns from occupying central coaching positions suggests that racialized perceptions of skills and abilities may be more important than actual human capital development.…”

“…The risk period for this analysis is the season in which coaches began their first full-time job until (a) they transition to an FBS executive position or (b) they reach the end of the observation period without experiencing the transition-event (i.e., censored). The use of event-history methods offers numerous advantages over cross-sectional methods, such as logistic regression or descriptive crosstabulations, that have been common in prior research examining racial segregation in the coaching profession (e.g., Anderson, 1993;Braddock, Smith, & Dawkins, 2012;Finch et al, 2010). First, they allow for the investigation of coaches' entire career histories to determine if and when they have occupied high-status positions.…”

An Examination of African American NCAA DI-FBS Football Coaches: A Five-Year Update

“…This is a critical finding given that these highly centralized positions have historically and primarily been occupied by White athletes. Finch et al (2010) found that in 2005, the percentage of head coaches having played quarterback or along the offensive line decreased to 45.4%; even more telling, one third of all head coaches had played quarterback. Such findings provide evidence that the practice of stacking, which is the assigning of athletes to certain playing positions based on assumptions regarding one's athletic ability and race (Sack et al, 2005), continues to remain a potential influence, and adversely so for African Americans, on the career coaching outcomes of current and future players.…”

“…In 1993, Anderson addressed the potential reality of institutional discrimination in college football and its potential negative outcomes on coaches. Using data from the 2005 season, Finch, McDowell, and Sagas (2010) replicated his study to determine if a more equitable racial representation had taken place among college football coaching staffs. Both studies concluded that institutional and access discrimination, partly attributable to coaching career paths, remains a potential deterrent in achieving a more diverse and equal representation of African American head coaches.…”

“…Both studies concluded that institutional and access discrimination, partly attributable to coaching career paths, remains a potential deterrent in achieving a more diverse and equal representation of African American head coaches. With the recent noteworthy increase in representation of African American college football coaches in 2010, this study sought to examine and compare the career paths of all DI-FBS coaches and compare them to those of the coaches analyzed in the Anderson (1993) and Finch et al (2010) studies.…”