A frustrating trend

African Americans still are underrepresented in the high school head football coaching ranks

By Quwan Spears - Bee Staff Writer
Published 12:00 am PDT Sunday, October 7, 2007

Leroy Harris still feels the pain more than two decades later.

He was hired as Highlands High School's football coach in 1980, becoming the first African American to hold such a position in the Sacramento area.

Harris was an immediate success, winning 11 games and taking the Scots to the Sac-Joaquin Section Division I championship game in his first season, losing to Vintage.

His reward? He resigned after three seasons because the Grant Joint Union District school couldn't find a full-time teaching position for him on campus.

"I felt it was a discriminatory situation," he said. "I felt that after all I had done, developing a winning program despite being an off-campus teacher, I felt the school could have at least found something.

"I was devastated by the situation. My dream was to build a strong program at a school and make it a career there. I never imagined there would be a roadblock like that."

When Harris looks around the Sacramento-area prep football landscape nearly three decades later, he sees that not much has changed.

He said the obstacles he faced in the past are the same other African Americans face today. As a result, he is not surprised there are still few African Americans coaching the high school game.

"Personally, I don't think most school administrations see it as a necessity to have a black coach as part of their program," said Harris, now an assistant at Sacramento High under head coach Doug Cosbie, a former NFL player. "Moreover, I don't think administrations are really conscious of the matter or being proactive to even address the issue."

When Harris became Highlands' coach, there were approximately 40 teams in The Bee's circulation area. With 75 football teams in the area today, the number of African American head coaches also has grown -- to six.

John Powell of Encina, Ricky Bragg of Kennedy, Chaun Emery-Slack of Highlands, Gary Melvin of Natomas, T.J. Ewing of Monterey Trail and Jason Tenner of Ponderosa can consider themselves members of a small fraternity, one that is not expected to grow anytime soon.

District and school officials would argue with Harris' assessment and say more African American coaches could be hired if more were credentialed as teachers.

"We're in a period right now where it's difficult to find a qualified coach regardless of their background," said Valley High School vice principal Rick Messer, who interviewed 10 candidates for his head-coaching job, including one African American, before hiring Jeff Dietrich, who coached at El Camino last season and is white. "Coaching is a very time-consuming job that doesn't pay very much. So the turnover is very high these days."

Policies to hire coaches vary among school districts statewide. However, athletic directors from private and public schools said they prefer to hire coaches in this order: 1. On-campus credentialed teacher. 2. Off-campus credentialed teacher. 3. Walk-on.

Experts also say low pay and few opportunities also play big roles in the drought of African American coaches.

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How scarce are African American male teachers? Of the 12,033 teachers in Sacramento County during the 2006-07 school year, only 152 (1.2 percent) were African American men, according to the California Department of Education. The survey did not note how many were high school teachers.

Conversely, the survey noted 36,596 students (15.4 percent) of the 238,233 students enrolled in Sacramento County were black.

And from September 2002 to July 2007, only 10 African Americans of the 1,890 students (0.52 percent) enrolled in Sacramento State's multiple subjects teaching credential program graduated, and only eight of 925 earned credentials from the single-subject program during that span.

"This issue goes beyond just football," said Robert Pritchard, the chairman of the department of teacher education at Sac State. "There is a huge need for African American teachers in general. A lack of African American teachers means a lack of role models not for just African American students, but students across the board."

That's why Steven Christian appreciates playing for Bragg at Kennedy. Considered one of the top defensive backs in Northern California, Christian said having a black coach is vital for a team of mostly African Americans.

"It's important because I think a black coach can relate to black players more when it comes to everyday things," he said. "If something happens, I feel like I can go to a black coach and he'll understand my situation more than a white coach."

Numerous high schools have African American assistant coaches, but many lack teaching credentials.

"Some guys have talked about taking that next step up, but I told them they have to be prepared," said Bragg, who has eight black assistants on his staff. "I've explained to them that the credential is key. Some guys tell me they're going to do it, but none have done it so far. So we have to wait and see."

Melvin has a credential. He said he understands why more don't.

"The credential program, especially at Sac State, is very rigorous," said Melvin, who earned his teaching credential at Sac State. "There's a lot involved. So people have to be willing to invest time. And people must have the understanding that you're not going to get paid much after you get the credential. I'm finding that more blacks are not interested in the (high school) teaching and coaching profession because the compensation is not lucrative enough."

The statewide average salary for teachers in 2005-06 was $57,604, according to the California Department of Education. Teachers who also coach receive a stipend of $1,500 to $2,500.

"There are a lot of African Americans who are attractive candidates to be teachers," Pritchard said. "But those same people are attractive candidates for other professions. So if a person has to choose between teaching and another career, they tend to gravitate to the other career because it's going to pay more money."

That's why coaching in college has been more attractive to African Americans.

College assistant coaches don't need a teaching credential, and the pay is more. The average salary range for a first-year graduate assistant is $13,000 to $25,000, according to several universities.

Steve Roberson, the only African American on Sac State's coaching staff, said he prefers college coaching because the players' skill level is higher. Money, however, is a key reason some of his African American colleagues are shying away from the high schools.

"My friends tell me it's too hard to coach/teach and then try to supplement your income taking on another job," Roberson said. "They say the demands just don't match the pay."

* * *

Other African Americans who have a teaching credential and a desire to coach often run into another problem: finding a coaching job.

Neither Powell nor Bragg said he felt discriminated against when pursuing jobs. But Bragg said he was given a vague reason he was not hired for one opening.

"Not having enough experience is the standard line, one in which I can generally handle," he said. "But one time I was told I didn't have enough fundraising experience. Now that's a bunch of (nonsense)."

Added Powell: "Man, I can't begin to tell you how many jobs I got passed over for. In a lot of those situations, I felt I was more qualified. But the schools picked someone else."

Bragg said he interviewed for four head-coaching positions before Kennedy hired him two years ago. Powell applied for 10 jobs before securing a spot at Encina two years ago.

Both found opportunities at schools where the door had already been opened to African Americans. Encina's boys basketball coach and athletic director, Brian Mitchell, who hired Powell, also is African American. At Kennedy, Bragg replaced another African American, Jared Brown.

Of the 21 coaching jobs available this offseason, only three were filled by African Americans -- Melvin, Slack and Tenner. And like Powell and Bragg, Melvin and Slack were hired at schools where African Americans preceded them either on the sideline or in administration.

Not only did Melvin replace Joe Daniels, an African American, Natomas boys basketball coach and athletic director Dennis Foster, who also is African American, hired him.

"I think it was just a unique situation for Dennis to have two qualified candidates who happened to be black the last few years," Melvin said. "But it is comforting to know that you're dealing with someone who has insight into what you're trying to accomplish and what you're dealing with in terms of trying to enter the coaching business."

At Highlands, Emery-Slack became the school's third African American head football coach, following Leroy Harris and Nate Harris (no relation), currently an assistant at Kennedy.

"We don't look at color when hiring a coach," Highlands athletic director Steve Eakes said. "We simply look for the best person to fill the job, and Chaun was our best on-campus (teacher) candidate."

At Monterey Trail, Ewing had an advocate in former school principal Terry Chapman, who retired in July.

When Chapman set out to hire a football coach for the program in 2002, his aim was to find a minority.

"I was looking for the best coach possible," he said. "However, I realized we had many black students on campus who needed a good role model.

"T.J. applied for the job. Not only did I find him to be very qualified, but he was a good fit for our school."

Tenner's hire at Ponderosa, however, is unique. The former coach at Leland High School in San Jose and ex-NFL Europe player was hired at a predominantly white school.

"When I applied for the job, I was told that I might be greeted with those who have an old-school mentality," he said. "But so far, things have been great."

One reason is Tenner was selected by a panel comprising players, parents, coaches, teachers, administrators and community members.

"The fact Jason was hired by a diverse panel shows that we've come along way in the U.S. when it comes to the hiring process," Ponderosa principal Christopher Moore said. "At the end of the day, people in this vibrant football community were looking for someone that the players could look up to. And we feel strongly that Jason is that person because he was our clear-cut No. 1 choice."

* * *

As in high school, the number of African American coaches in the professional and college ranks also is low.

Only six of the NFL's 32 coaches and six of the 119 NCAA Division I-A coaches are African American. Whereas the NCAA and NFL have programs that seek to increase the number of African American coaches, such as the NFL's requirement that at least one minority candidate be interviewed for each head-coaching vacancy, there are no such programs or watchdog in high school.

"The key for change is seeing how the searches are conducted and hold the people accountable, whether it be a high school athletic director, principal or superintendent," said Floyd Keith, executive director of the Black Coaches & Administrators in Indianapolis.

"The problem is we (BCA) don't have the manpower to keep up with all the state high school associations and school districts."

The California Interscholastic Federation, the state body that oversees high school sports, does not monitor school districts' hiring processes.

When asked if the CIF, which is active in general coaching and steroid education, should try to create a program to encourage more black coaches, CIF state director of communications Emmy Zack said: "We don't oversee personnel matters at schools, regardless if it's a principal, coach or custodian. That's not our (purview), and I don't see it changing anytime soon."

But Leroy Harris says the situation won't change until the CIF says it should.

"Why should it not start with them?" Harris said. "Basically, the CIF is made up of current and former administrators, who make decisions about high school sports. All I want is for them to entertain the concept of minority hiring by school districts and look at the situation more closely."

The CIF can help, but Chapman said others must get involved as well.

"The CIF is a good place to start," he said. "But individual school districts must address the issue. They must make it a point to really look and try to recruit minority candidates, especially African American males. Moreover, some responsibility should go to the parents. They have a right to voice their opinion about what they would prefer in a coach."

Some credit should go to Leroy Harris, too.

"When I look back, it's still painful for me because my dream was shattered," he said. "But at the same time, I'm glad to be a pioneer. Had I not gone through that experience, others may not have gotten a chance, especially a guy like Tenner at a school like Ponderosa, where attitudes have changed."