December 04, 2024
This report is the second in a series on White racial preferences in the labor market.
Typically, about half of Division I college football players are Black, but less than a fifth of the head coaches are Black.1 This report quantifies and documents the underrepresentation of Black men as college football head coaches as well as the overrepresentation of White men in this occupation.
The occupation of college football head coach stands out because of its prestige and high salary. College football is an important part of American culture.2 One observer sees it as “the most important sport in America,”3 noting that “[t]he most popular of those [college football] teams play in stadiums that hold over 100,000 fans, while NFL stadiums hold no more than 80,000.”4 Many major movies5 and television shows6 have been centered around the sport, often highlighting the head coach. In the top college football subdivision, head coaches had an average salary approaching $4 million in 2022.7 In many states, the college football head coach is the highest-paid public employee.8
The occupation of college football head coach is important as a type of case study of White racial preferences in the labor market. The occupation is somewhat ideal in that there seem to be clear, objective9 statistics to assess the quality or productivity of individuals. If there are occupations that should be free of anti-Black racial discrimination or a White racial preference, one might expect that college football coaching is one of them. On the other hand, if one finds a White racial preference in football coaching, it is even more likely that it exists in other occupations where subjectivity — and therefore the potential for racial bias — plays a greater role.
Consider this scenario involving one university’s football team’s succession of three head coaches: Coach A has a record of 21 wins and 16 losses after three seasons. Coach B has a record of 21 wins and 15 losses after three seasons. And, Coach C has a record of 22 wins and 15 losses after three seasons. One of these coaches was fired after three seasons, the other two were allowed additional time to improve their performance.
This scenario played out at the University of Notre Dame from 1997 to 2009. The Black head coach, Coach B, was fired after three seasons although the two White coaches, Coaches A and C, were given additional time.10
This suggestion of a bias in favor of White coaches is anecdotal. It is possible that there were factors causing the firing of the Black coach to which casual outside observers are unaware. But some more dedicated observers of college football — sports journalists and Black football head coaches — agree that Black head coaches are more likely to be fired early.11 And, a multivariate statistical analysis supports this conclusion.12
If Black head coaches are more likely to be fired than similarly qualified White coaches, then one could expect anti-Black bias or a White racial preference in all aspects around the occupation of being a college football head coach. As the economist Nolan A. Kopkin, who conducted the statistical analysis mentioned above, observed, “if decision makers are discriminating against black head coaches when deciding whether to retain them, these racial attitudes are likely present in hiring decisions, as well.”13 He adds, “On average, institutions with black head coaches are inherently less-discriminatory, as evidenced by them having hired a black coach.”14 In other words, the degree of anti-Black bias may be stronger at colleges that have never hired a Black head coach. Overall, if Black men15 are less likely to be hired as college football head coaches, and more likely to be fired, then there would be a significant underrepresentation of Black men as head coaches.
Being a college football head coach is an attractive occupation because of the prestige and high salary that comes with it. The median income for a Black man with a bachelor’s degree was about $76,000 in 2022.16 Compare that to the about $4 million for head coaches.17 There is no reason to expect that Black men would be less likely to aspire to this position than White men — if they perceive that they have a fair opportunity to obtain it. If they have reasonable doubts that they could ever be allowed to attain the position, then fewer of them would pursue it.
Underrepresentation therefore helps to maintain underrepresentation by discouraging underrepresented groups from pursuing occupations in which they have a low representation. Effective affirmative action programs can help to break this feedback loop.
To assess the underrepresentation of Black men as college football head coaches, this analysis will use a representation ratio. This ratio is the proportion of people of a particular race in the occupation divided by the proportion of student-athletes of the same race in the relevant sport or sports. While one does not have to be a man to be a college football head coach, the data in the NCAA demographics database currently only has male head coaches for football.
The representation ratio assumes that the racial composition of the players of college football is very similar to the racial composition of the individuals who would have the skills and interest in becoming a college football head coach. One analysis found that 94 percent of head coaches played football in college.18
The average age of a college football head coach is about 50 years old.19 This suggests that the relevant racial composition of college football athletes should be from the mid-1990s. Unfortunately, those data are not readily available. The earliest year’s data in the NCAA database is 2012. The denominator for representation ratio calculations will be based on 2012 data. The data that are available, however, suggests that the general picture of over- and underrepresentation would be largely the same if the mid-1990s data were available.20
Figure 1
Figure 1 shows that Black football head coaches had a representation ratio of 0.35 in NCAA Division I in 2024. In other words, it is only about a third of what one might expect given the share of Black student-athletes in football. The White representation ratio was 1.77, approaching twice what one might expect.
Figure 2 illustrates that there has been no progress in improving the representation of Black men as college football head coaches. From 2012 to 2024, the representation ratio for Black head coaches has never exceeded 0.39 and has remained relatively flat. The White ratio has also been relatively flat over the same time period. It has ranged from 1.77 to 1.91.
Figure 2
Black men’s access to head coaching positions varies by sport. Figure 3 shows that Black men have basically achieved parity in baseball and outdoor track. Black men are only halfway there in basketball and soccer. Football has the worst ratio of the five sports.
Figure 3
The data on the selected sports suggests that the “worst” outcome for White men is to have representation as head coaches in proportion to the share of White, male student-athletes (Figure 4). White men have roughly proportional representation in baseball and outdoor track. They are significantly overrepresented as soccer head coaches, even more overrepresented as football head coaches, and still even more overrepresented as basketball head coaches. The White male representation ratio in basketball is more than twice what one might expect.
These data suggest that, among these five sports, Black men experience the most discrimination preventing them from becoming head coaches in football. While the White racial preference in football appears to be very strong, it does not seem to be the strongest among these five sports. Somewhat surprisingly, the strongest White racial preference appears to be in basketball. Being a college basketball head coach is also a high status and very highly paid position with salaries that rival football head coaches.21
Figure 4
It appears to be relatively easier for a Black man to become an athletic director than a football head coach. The representation ratio for Black male athletic directors is 1.12, slightly better than parity (Figure 5). (The representation ratios for women are very low.) This is much better than the 0.35 for Black male football head coaches. Nonetheless, there still seems to be a strong preference for White male athletic directors. Their representation ratio is 2.06, much better than parity and much better than for Black male athletic directors.
Figure 5
Black men are well represented as athletic directors, baseball head coaches, and outdoor track head coaches. They have a poor representation as head coaches in basketball and soccer, and an even worse representation in football. Objectively, this is surprising given that the number of Black student-athletes is largest in football, and the very high salary of a football head coach should be a strong incentive.
In 2024, if there were 78 additional Black football head coaches, the Black representation ratio would reach parity. For individuals about 50 years old, the age of the average football head coach, there were easily at least 20,000 potential candidates — Black former football student-athletes22 — who could have been developed to fill the 78 slots. There is something not working in the system of economic opportunity for Black male college football players that none of them were able to fill the 78 slots.
Football is a complicated game. There are many steps to becoming a head coach. Former Black college football players would have needed to be in the pipeline decades ago. Researchers examining the pipeline have identified a White racial preference throughout.23 If the underrepresentation of Black men as college football head coaches is to end, Black former football student-athletes will need to be given the same opportunities as their White peers.
This means that Black former college football players need to be encouraged to pursue coaching, they need to be provided with the training and mentorship, and — most importantly — they need to be given equal access to the head coaching position without anti-Black racial bias. In other words, an affirmative action program needs to be developed.
Affirmative action in employment is not a system of racial preferences. Rather, it is a system to counteract the system of White racial preference in the labor market. College football coaching needs it. Without it, the status quo will lead to the continued underrepresentation of Black men as head coaches.
