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Diversifying leadership in sports

February marks Black History month, a nationwide recognition that celebrates the significant roles that black people have played in shaping the United States. 

The most prominent figure that immediately comes to my sports-wired mind this month is Jackie Robinson, the first black athlete to compete in Major League Baseball (MLB). 

While he is remembered for his lightning speed around the bases, his high batting averages throughout his career and for the number 42 he gracefully wore on his back, many often forget his last request. Nine days before he died, he called upon the MLB to hire more black managers and front-office employees. 

“I am extremely proud and pleased to be here this afternoon,” Robinson said in 1972 at Game 2 of the World Series. “But I must admit, I am going to be tremendously more pleased and more proud when I look at the third-base coaching line one day and see a black face managing in baseball.”

Unfortunately, it’s been 47 years since Robinson’s call-out, and the issue of failing to diversify the league’s leadership still persists. 

According to ESPN’s Stats and Information Group, there have been 470 managerial openings since 1972. Black men have filled just 27 of those positions–10 interim and 17 full-time. The average record of the teams that non-interim black managers inherited is 73-89, which qualifies as a losing record. Of the 27 times when a black manager has been hired, only two involved an organization with a winning record. 

In addition, there have been 17 managerial jobs filled by white individuals who didn’t even have coaching experience, let alone managerial experience, at either the major league or minor league level. 

These statistics argue that black managers aren’t given an equal opportunity to truly succeed when they are granted leadership jobs, and are often getting beat out by individuals with much less experience.

Baseball isn’t the only professional sport that is lacking real racial progress in the coaching department. Seventy percent of the National Football League (NFL) players are black, yet there are only two black head coaches. 

Often in this league, the road to the head honcho position has been through becoming an offensive or defensive coordinator, another area that underrepresents minorities. Of the 32 NFL teams, only two black men are offensive coordinators and ten are defensive coordinators. 

In 2003, the NFL instituted the “Rooney Rule” requiring NFL teams to interview minority candidates for available head coaching positions. The rule is named after Dan Rooney, the former chairman of the league's diversity committee. While it did increase the number of minority head coaches for several years, the numbers took a dive in 2017, when seven black coaches were fired and five were replaced by white coaches. 

Similar to the MLB, there are many qualified black assistant coaches and coordinators who deserve to be rewarded with head positions in the NFL. Eric Bieniemy, the offensive coordinator for the Kansas City Chiefs, mentored the Super Bowl MVP Pat Mahomes and led the Chiefs’ offense to a Super Bowl victory last Sunday. During the past off-season, he had countless interviews for head coaching openings but had zero offers. 

It begs the question he and many others continue to ask: what more does a black person have to do to be given an equal opportunity for success? Unfortunately, a stellar resume and perfect reputation of a black individual like Bieniemy may be shadowed due to their race. 

While the MLB and NFL have implemented committees dedicated to diversifying leadership roles within their organizations, racial bias about black capabilities continues to manifest itself in new forms today. 

Giving a black coach the reins to manage a losing team or conducting superficial interviews for black individuals just to uphold Rooney’s Rule are just a few examples that point towards discrimination. 

Despite incremental progress, success continues to look different for black and white coaches. An individual should be rewarded for this position because they are equally qualified and have jumped through enough hoops to be fit for the job. 

With the NFL season having just come to a close, and the MLB season just around the corner, I wonder if 2020 will be the year that Robinson’s request will be fully honored—and if these organizations can truly embrace an equitable playing field.  

Contact Lacey Yahnke at lyahnke@scu.edu or call (408) 554-4852.