You have almost as good a chance of seeing an African-American in the cast of "Friends" as one wearing a head coach's headset on a football sideline.
|  | | On the field and off, Hall of Fame tight end Kellen Winslow was determined to make an impact. |
That's why Kellen Winslow isn't some meddling parent who places his own personal agenda over his son's wishes. He supports Kellen Jr.'s decision to choose the University of Miami and wishes the best for him there. But he's also sick and tired of seeing African-Americans bypassed again and again for coaching jobs.
And that's why he says players, his son included, need to consider the racial makeup of the coaching staff and athletics department when choosing a school or team. Because the players are the ones who could make a difference.
"The only real power you have is as a player," Winslow said. "That's where the mass is. That's where the power is. You can count the number of African-American athletic directors on one hand and the African-American coaches probably on the same hand. The university presidents aren't African-American, the majority of donors are not African-American.
"You have to go to the power base to bring about change. Our base is on the field of play."
Of the 115 Division I-A programs, only five have black coaches even though nearly half the players are black. There were 25 head coaching changes last season and only San Jose State hired an African-American, Fitz Hill.
The problem is nearly as pervasive in the NFL where there are just three black coaches: Minnesota's Dennis Green, Tampa Bay's Tony Dungy and New York's Herman Edwards. Of the league's past 47 head coaching jobs, three went to black coaches. After the regular season, seven teams hired head coaches, only one was black. Baltimore Ravens defensive coordinator Marvin Lewis directed the best defense in the NFL last season, one of the best in league's history. He received one job interview.
|  | | The Vikings' Dennis Green is one of just three head coaches in the NFL who is African-American. |
League apologists will tell you there are reasons for all this. But there is always a reason, always an excuse. That's why the Dave Wannstedt's of the world keep getting chances and Lewis does not.
That's why people should listen to Winslow.
"Whenever change comes about, it's because of awareness," Winslow said. "The entire civil rights movement took place because it was brought to the attention of newspapers and TV and it caused disruption to the status quo. It wasn't because of a change of heart, of them suddenly saying, 'We were wrong.'
"My voice falls mute because my playing days are over. I have no power. They might listen to me as a courtesy but I have no power in that area. Now, a player who is a free agent, does he have power? Oh, yeah. If a free agent walked around when he visited with a new team and said, 'Where are the people who look like me?' you would see change."
Some will say this is reverse discrimination, that people would be justifiably appalled if a player said he was choosing a school or team because it had a white coach. But it isn't the same thing at all. This is affirmative action. This is about correcting decades-long discrimination. This is about forcing the people in power to finally examine a problem they've ignored for too long. This is about giving people a chance denied for too long.
If players at least bring up the issue during a recruiting trip or a contract negotiation, when the time comes for a school or team to hire a new coach, it will remember. And it will finally make schools and teams consider all candidates -- not just the ones who look like all the past ones.
"The downside is the majority of African-American athletes are represented by people who discourage that type of talk because they have no vested interest in that," Winslow said. "You don't see a lot of players talk about that sort of thing either, because there will be a backlash, they're warned not to do it and some don't think beyond the next two weeks.
"But out there somewhere is someone who will make a stand and the dominos will fall."
If this scandal is going to be corrected, the players will have to apply the pressure. Face it. A league that allows a team to call itself the Redskins simply is not going to change on its own.
Jim Caple is a senior staff writer for ESPN.com
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