2 Black NFL Head Coaches to Superbowl XLI!!!
 

But, I haveta gloat about this one... Fox and CBS started it...

But 2 Black NFL Head Coaches will compete in Superbowl XLI in Miami!!!

I am too happy about this little fact... I cain't hep mysef!!!

lol. it is pretty cool though.

No: GO BEARS!!!!! ;) :D

As an Illinois native, I feel obligated to agree: GO BEARS!

WOW, more important than who is going to the Super Bowl.

Granted, it is news, but it will be news forever.

So, there were two Men who are Coaches who are Black. It is something that has been to long in coming. So, now lets concentrate on FooseBall and not people!

Oh, who is playing anyway?:eek:

Bears by 7. You heard it here first.

Tom,
I don't assume any negative intent in your comment, and I hope you will take this in the spirit in which it is sent, but I do have to say, that yes, it's a BIG DEAL to millions of Americans of color, (African Americans and others, and I would hope, as well to White Americans) and it is worth it to concentrate on "the people" as well as the event.

Our history in America makes it so. Generations before us have grown up in an America that routinely told them that they were were not good enough, not strong enough, not smart enough to be leaders, to rise to the top and to do anything that would be "valued" in America. Our ancestors knew it wasn't true and persisted in advancing and teaching those who would come behind them the fundamental lesson that "hard work, despite the obstacles you face, leads somewhere...."

And so for not one, but two sons of the African Diaspora, to lead their teams to the the biggest event in sports and one of the largest in American society (the Superbowl is annually the most watched event in the nation), yes, it does mean a great deal.

I'm cheering for the bears, on account of, screw the Colts and Peyton's ugly and what the hell kind of name is Peyton anyway?

Then you don't know Tom very well.:(:o :mad:

Speaking of Super Bowl...the Super Bowl XL champions (THAT'S THE STEELERS IN CASE YOU FORGOT) just named Mike Tomlin their new head coach. He is the first Black head coach in Steelers history (and much nicer to look at than Russ Grimm, might I add). :)

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070123/...eelers_coach_7

Not to rain on the parade, but I think it's a stupid discussion. I mean, its fine to be excited about it, but I do think it is dumb when people act like this is some victory in the fight against discrimination. I'm pretty excited that there are two white SEC QB's in the Super Bowl.

Considering that it wasn't all that long ago that there were no black NFL head coaches at all, I think that this is a nice milestone and worthy of note.

I think the first was Art Shell in 1989, hired by the Raiders. But I'm not an NFL historian.

I agree, not having any would be rather suspicious. However, we don't need an exact percentage for things to be fair. This stuff goes on in college coaching, and its ridiculous. Alabama got crapped all over for not hiring Sylvester Croom, who may not even be the coach at Miss State much longer. If the ability is there, they'll get a shot. I have a tough time believing that organizations are purposefully avoiding black coaches. Then again maybe they are, just like NFL scouts avoid white running backs.

Well, the NFL became the official name of an already existing league in the early 1920's -- and the first black head coach wasn't named until almost 1990.

So, were there no qualified black head coaches for the first nearly seventy years of the league?

I can't believe that.

But that's not the point of this thread.

My opinion still is that this is a worthy milestone to note.

Uh, you are probably being too hard on Sylvester Croom. He's been working through a pretty bad situation (they were on probation for his first few years when he took over because of Jackie's stuff) and MSU beat Alabama, believe it or not. I think he probably would have been successful at Alabama.


I think we're still at the point when it's appropriate to celebrate a bit when black people reach the top. I hope we get to the point when the playing field is so level that we don't find it noteworthy, but I don't think we're there yet.

Well, I think more likely during most of that time there weren't many black coaches at all. Not that they would have been allowed to coach in the NFL if they were around. Like I said, its good that things are more open now, but I don't think we need all the rhetoric to go with it.

I like Croom fine, he may be a good coach. That being said, I don't think there are any indications that he is a better coach than Shula was. So if there are two qualified coaches, of comparable ability, and the white one is chosen, I think its pretty ridiculous to go crazy about it.

I still think it is a double standard. If I cheer for a white receiver, because he's white, people are gonna look at me funny. And when I say look at me funny, in Atlanta that means people might point guns at me. What do people expect AD's, GM's and owners to do? Can you name a lot of black candidates who have been shafted in favor of unqualified white candidates? I think things are right where they should be considering the pool of qualified coaches they're choosing from. I think its unrealistic that somebody making a hire cares so much about skin color that they'd sacrifice wins in order to hire a white person. If the quality black coaches are there, they'll get hired. I think its great that 2 black head coaches are in the Super Bowl, I truly do. However, I think to brag about it (this has nothing to do with the person who started this thread) or use it as a selling point for owners is pretty stupid.

I feel different than you do because I do think there was a long time when black candidates were shafted in favor of unqualified white candidates. I don't know enough about NFL history, but I think it's likely that without either intentional or unconscious racism that a black person could have led a NFL team to the Superbowl before now.

I think things have been a gradual process, and you may be right that it wasn't until recently that black coaches were able to get the experience to seem as qualified as whites.

Croom may provide an example. If he had gone to college six or seven years before he did, he would have met George Wallace on the school house steps. Instead, it seems he entered in 1970 (was he sixteen when he started college?) and had a distinguished football career, but when he wanted to enter the SEC to coach, he wasn't good enough. His take, reported from wikipedia is this, "A lot of those [SEC] schools, guys are good enough to play for them, good enough to be assistant coaches and not good enough to be in the positions of decision making and the positions of high financial reward. And they're qualified." At the time the job went to Shula, Shula had ten fewer years of coaching experience.

There are times when I find concerns about race overblown, and I don't generally like double standards. But this superbowl is a historic first that represents the progress of the country. These guys earned the jobs and earned the chance to coach their teams in the Superbowl. It's great.

I still don't see any problem with the Croom situation. Both were position coaches who were pretty mediocre as NFL coordinators. You're an SEC person, so you know the importance of having a big name coach if you're a big name team. Alabama was striking out when the hiring took place, and Shula is a much bigger name than Croom. Of course to really get into this I'd have to talk about how important looking good is to UA, but the point is fairly obvious. In that situation they wanted the biggest coach they can get, and Shula was a name that could keep the rebellion down. I don't think Croom is an inferior coach, but I doubt he'd do any better at UA. After all, they won 10 games last year and Shula still got fired. Plus, if they had hired Croom PC may have mandated they give him more time than Bama prefers to give coaches.

Shut up.....

Shut up.....

Oh, not getting picked to coach at Alabama is it's own reward if you ask me, for a lot of different reasons. But Croom had incredible ties to the university, so I think there were reasons they could have gone with him too. If you haven't looked at the wikipedia entry about Croom, I encourage you to look at it.

My general point is that it hasn't really been that long since people were openly (and as far as state law, legally) discriminated against, like Alabama six years before Croom; and it's nice to look at the progress and celebrate it.

There you have it. Although, I know that open discrimination is not a thing of the past.

Yes, folks are focusing on the teams as they do in any other superbowl but I won't pretend that the black coaches won't also be watched (and not only by blacks who are proud of this accomplishment).

I wonder if Tom Earp will rush into a thread talking about the superbowl halftime act and inform people that we should focus on the teams and not the extranneous stuff.

I'm so tired of people telling other people what and who they should celebrate or what should be important to them.

Yeah. But I think this thread started with people who were happy just saying they were happy.

I think the element of direction came in only when others jumped in saying that they didn't think it was anything to be happy about.

I was very excited and proud (not that I had any hand in it) to see this. Also, my Pittsburgh-born roommate was excited about the new Steelers coach.
I would also be proud if someone from my college were playing in the Superbowl, but they're not.

DSTS, I'm alright, thanks.

That's what she's referring to.

I applaud Dungy and Lovie Smith, absolutely......but I really don't think it should be made into a huge deal either. I'm more happy that Dungy is coaching in the Superbowl because of his horrible loss in the death of his son last year.....not because he is black. I'm rooting for Lovie Smith because he is an East Texas boy, same deal. People are acting like these are the only two black head coaches in football....there were seven this year. Considering they coached two of the top 4 teams in the league......I figured for quite some time that they would probobly meet in the Super Bowl.

I really don't think you can make this claim. Hell, I don't think any of us can make that claim. I'm pretty sure none of us are or have been an interviewing general manager or owner of an NFL team. Neither you nor anyone can assert that there was most likely a time when qualified blacks were shafted in favor of unqualified whites. First of all, why would an owner want a bad coach simply because he was white? That is absolutely ridiculous.....to sacrafice wins just to have a white coach. I certainly don't know what an interview process is like for an NFL team, now or in the past, but I would guess it is extremely difficult and a very arduous task trying to find 1 guy out of a short list or whom you think is the best to coach your team......so I have a hard time listening to people who want to bring talks of discrimination in NFL coaching.

The irony of this announcement is overwhelming.

Well lets see.....I think 7 is a pretty damn good amount for head coaches. I'm not even taking into consideration the amount of black assistants....have you looked on the sidelines during NFL games? I see a huge amount of black linebacker coaches, running back coaches, wide receiver coaches, defensive line coaches, secondary coaches, etc. About the only positions you see white guys even doing anymore is QBs, offensive linemen, and special teams.

Now lets consider who is coaching right now. Mike Shannahan, Mike Holmgren, Joe Gibbs, Brian Billichick, Marty Schottenheimer, Bill Cowher....these are hall of fame coaches........they will always have a head coaching job as long as they want to coach. So that leaves you with 28 teams out of 32 that could have a possibility of having a coaching vacancy. Lovie Smith, Tony Dungy, Herman Edwards, these three black coaches are going to be around for a while as well. John Gruden, Andy Reid, Sean Payton, Brian Billick, Eric Mangini.......they aren't going anywhere either........so that leaves around 23 teams, give or take, that could possibly shuffle coaches year in and year out. Sorry......I just find it extremely difficult to make sure you absolutely have the most qualified 23 men out of hundreds of applicants......white or black.

.......or maybe I just went on a rant for no reason and should realize that the only way black people will be satisfied is when all 32 head coaches, every player, every coordinator, and every assistant is black.

Clearly, black people should be THANKFUL because this society is obviously doing US a favor when there are 7 black coaches.

Yep...that's what such topics are all about. Black people want to take over the country and eventually the world. This NFL coach thingie is the tip of the iceburg. PREPARE FOR COMPLETE WORLD DOMINATION!!! Then we'll be "satisfied" and stop all of our whining.

DSTS, then what are you arguing for? Black people dominate pro sports, I don't see a battle to be fought here.

Except in the coaching ranks and front office.

Delt........then can you find me something that has the names of every coaching position in the NFL.........because i'd be willing to bet alot of money that there are, overall, more black coaches in the NFL than white ones. And by coaching I mean, position coaches, strength coaches, etc., etc.

WOW.

www.nfl.com

Be sure to count the number of general managers and owners, too.

He knows that. We have to remember the degree of consciousness of the people we're posting to.

So back to people noting the milestone of the 2 black coaches in the Superbowl. And to hell with the people who come into this thread just to inform us that they have no level of understanding. :)

Yeah, lets start giving away NFL teams. I give up, you guys keep on fighting the good fight.