By Michael A. Ross, MS
On September 20, 2020, multiple Division I athletic directors signed a pledge to diversify the hiring pools within their respective programs. This pledge is designed to further promote quality existing platforms such as the Rooney Rule and the West Coast Conference’s “The Russell Rule” which provide greater equality for less recognized and underrepresented minority candidates.
Background
In light of the social justice movements occurring throughout the country, sports and their stakeholders have also attempted to take proactive measures that exist specifically within their realm. The most recent push for active change occurred on September 20, 2020, with 30 Division I athletic directors signing the Collegiate Coaching Diversity Pledge (CCDP) (Medcalf, 2020). Programs honoring the pledge and its specifications “must have a finalist pool that includes at least one candidate from a traditionally underrepresented background and one non-diverse candidate” while also having conducted and experienced the same interview process for all finalist candidates (Collegiate Coaching Diversity Pledge, 2020, para. 2). Currently the CCDP is only applied to the sports of women’s basketball, men’s basketball and football. As explained by the Board of Advocates and Board of Coaches, the governing body which represents the CCDP, established to promote and uphold the purpose of CCDP, their hope is to bring about meaningful and proactive change within athletics and more specifically within the upper tier of coaching and job opportunities within Division I collegiate athletics.
A similar initiative was conducted during 2016, by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) which aimed to urge college and university presidents, chancellors and conference commissioners to establish policies that supported and reinforced equal and inclusive hiring practices within intercollegiate athletics (New, 2016). Similar to the current movement, the 2016, push saw more than 180 representatives sign the pledge representing all three divisions within the NCAA in which all who signed were publicly listed on the NCAA’s website for reference. Referencing previous studies issued by the Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport, then NCAA Chief Inclusion Officer Bernard Franklin noted that nearly 80% of presidents and athletic directors of Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) colleges were white males (New, 2016). The premise behind the aforementioned study was to highlight the fact that females and minority groups were vastly underrepresented for head coaching positions and other positions of power found within the university and athletic departments’ hierarchical structure of NCAA member institutions.
Referencing previous initiatives and measures taken to counter the evident inequalities surrounding hiring practices of such positions, Title IX and the National Football League’s implementation of the ‘Rooney Rule’ have been cited as precedential frameworks warranting consideration.
Before the implementation of Title IX within the collegiate sports realm, one out of every twenty-seven girls participated in sports offerings. After Title IX was implemented in 1972, this statistic has evolved indicating that two out of every five girls now participate in some form of structured athletic opportunity (Title IX and the Rise of Female Athletes in America, 2016). These statistics alone reinforce the notion that when provided additional opportunities, increased participation and involvement by underrepresented groups are likely to increase. Women’s Sports Foundation CEO Donna Lopiano reinforced these statistics by stating that women located within the United States will continue to benefit from the outcomes provided by Title IX not only because of the increased opportunities and availability to participate at the highest level, but because much of the world still faces discriminatory practices in regard to their female populations (Longman, 2016).
Looking at a version of this approach to countering the restrictive hiring practices towards minority groups at the professional level, in 2003, the NFL instituted the Rooney Rule which was a product of the late Pittsburg Steelers owner and league diversity committee chairman Dan Rooney (Carroll, 2018). The premise of the Rooney Rule is that any organization that has a head coaching vacancy must interview at least one ethnic-minority candidate before making their final offer for said position. In 2002, there were two African American head coaches in the NFL (Proxmire, 2009). After the implementation of the Rooney Rule in 2003, these statistics positively increased with the height coming during the 2018, season in which eight coaches of color were representing head coaching positions within the league (Carroll, 2018). The sole example of those found to violate the Rooney Rule and receive the associated financial punishment can be seen in the 2003, Detroit Lions, in which their president Matt Millen was served with a $200,000 fine for said violation (Lyles, 2018). After the Lion’s punishment, the NFL threatened those found in violation of the Rooney Rule with a $500,000 fine.
Mirroring the Rooney Rule in 2016, the National Association for Coaching Equity and Development (NACED) requested the NCAA create a similar rule within the collegiate ranks known as the Eddie Robinson Rule which would be named after the legendary Grambling State University head coach (New, 2016). The Eddie Robinson Rule stated that “colleges and universities (must) interview at least one qualified racial and ethnic minority candidate in their final candidate pool for open head coaching and administrative positions” (New, 2016, para. 17). This proposal has many similar characteristics to those found within the Rooney Rule and those currently being highlighted by the CCDP in more recent times. While there is an evident need to address opportunities and reevaluate hiring practices for ethnic and gender-based minority groups, meaningful and lasting change may be hard to achieve without some form of reinforcement or punishment upheld and issued by the NCAA itself as the authoritative governing body. The NCAA’s previous argument and reasoning to not add a reinforcing arm to rules such as this has revolved around the fact that their member institutions consist of both public and private entities which will cause more legal difficulties while attempting to mandate hiring policies and procedures.
Conclusion
With many examples of professional leagues taking more proactive measures toward addressing social injustices and promoting diversity to a greater degree than in previous years while also retracting previous stances on similar issues, could this most recent push to make meaningful change towards more equal hiring practices within the NCAA realistically be implemented? The current climate within the United States presents a prime opportunity for such a change to gain traction and increased awareness over an issue that has been addressed at face value, but ultimately has not received any legitimate reinforcement for implementation by the necessary governing body. The CCDP represents the most current and relevant attempt to address a documented and studied discriminatory practice within one of the biggest sport platforms on the globe. The big question left to be addressed is, will this attempt and those who support its efforts be able to receive support from the NCAA and add the necessary teeth to its proposal for it to become legitimate? Also, in question, will this represent another valid acknowledgment of a reoccurring issue with those in support saving face but ultimately not being held accountable for continued support and upholding the pledge’s purpose?
References
Carroll, C. (2018). What is the Rooney Rule? Retrieved from https://www.si.com/nfl/2018/12/31/rooney-rule-explained-nfl-diversity-policy.
Collegiate Coaching Diversity Pledge. (2020). Retrieved from https://athleticdirectoru.com/collegiate-coaching-diversity-pledge/.
Longman, J. (2016). For those keeping score, American women dominated in Rio. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/23/sports/olympics/for-those-keeping-score-american-women-dominated-in-rio.html?_r=0.
Lyles, H. (2018). The NFL’s Rooney Rule won’t solve tech’s diversity problem. Retrieved from https://www.theverge.com/2018/6/5/17424992/facebook-amazon-diversity-hiring-rooney-rule.
Medcalf, M. (2020). Multiple Division I athletic directors sign Collegiate Coaching Diversity Pledge. Retrieved from https://www.espn.com/college-sports/story/_/id/29932329/multiple-division-athletic-directors-sign-collegiate-coaching-diversity-pledge.
New, J. (2016). NCAA urges institutions to sign diversity pledge. Retrieved from https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2016/09/22/ncaa-urges-institutions-sign-diversity-pledge.
Proxmire, D. C. (2009). Coaching diversity: The Rooney Rule, its application and ideas for expansion. Advance, 3, 87-94.
Title IX and the Rise of Female Athletes in America. (2016). Retrieved from https://www.womenssportsfoundation.org/education/title-ix-and-the-rise-of-female-athletes-in-america/.
Michael A. Ross is an Assistant Professor of Sport Management at Shorter University and a PhD student at Troy University specializing in research related to youth sport studies, leadership, social media policies and procedures within athletics and participation motivations in sport and recreation.
