Sep 2, 2023 - Sports

Charted: College football makes no progress on head coach diversity

Source: NCAA; Chart: Rahul Mukherjee/Axios; Note: Person of color is defined as student or coaches who did not identify as white in NCAA surveys.
Source: NCAA; Chart: Rahul Mukherjee/Axios; Note: Person of color is defined as student or coaches who did not identify as white in NCAA surveys.

The makeup of non-white head coaches in DI college football has stagnated at 13% since 2012, according to the NCAA.

Why it matters: The number of people of color in every other college football job has increased in the past decade.

  • The number of student-athletes who are non-white has grown to 61% in 2022 from 53% a decade earlier, eclipsing representation in any coaching staff.

Driving the news: Deion Sanders, the flashy former football star, took over as Colorado's head coach. It was the first time a Power Five program hired a head coach directly from an HBCU.

  • A slew of Black coaches was hired at the end of last season, including Purdue's Ryan Walters, Western Michigan's Lance Taylor and Kent State's Kenni Burns.

Of note: The NCAA won't release demographic data for the 2023 season until later this year, a representative told Axios.

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