Brand urges schools to consider minorities

INDIANAPOLIS -- NCAA president Myles Brand is urging athletic directors to take a closer look at minority coaching candidates this year.\nThe firing of Notre Dame's Tyrone Willingham on Tuesday left only two black head football coaches among the 117 Division I-A schools -- a number Brand called "unacceptable" in a written statement released Thursday.\n"It is more important than ever that this year's searches are conducted in a way genuinely open to all qualified candidates, including African-Americans," Brand said. "I urge all Division I-A programs that will be involved in searches to undertake a hiring process that identifies a diverse pool."\nThe lack of minority coaches has created consternation for Brand, whose NCAA officials have worked closely with the Black Coaches Association to create more diverse candidate pools for coaches, particularly football coaches and athletic administrators.\nBrand had previously encouraged schools to use the same hiring practices for professors and academic administrators in the athletic department.\nBCA executive director Floyd Keith welcomed Brand's statement.\n"Myles has always backed this effort, and it's a good endorsement -- a good public endorsement," Keith said.\nA recent flurry of coaching changes has cut the number of black head football coaches by more than half.\nLast year there were five black coaches in Division I-A -- none in Division I-AA when historically black institutions were excluded.\nWillingham's firing, the dismissal of New Mexico State's Tony Samuel and the resignation of San Jose State's Fitz Hill all occurred within eight days, leaving UCLA's Karl Dorrell and Mississippi State's Sylvester Croom as the only black coaches in major college football. That is the fewest since 1993.\nIn 1998, there were a record eight black head coaches.\nKeith, whose group released its first hiring report cards in October, said he has been in contact with all of the schools that have had openings except South Carolina, where Lou Holtz retired and Steve Spurrier was hired last month. Keith said he has sent information on potential candidates to all schools.\nAfter Willingham's firing at Notre Dame, Richard Lapchick, head of the Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport at the University of Central Florida, said he did not believe the number of minority head coaches would increase substantially this year or next.\nBrand made it clear he wants that to change, although he has acknowledged in the past that the NCAA cannot regulate final decisions.