Sarah Lake, NNPA Special Correspondent
All NCAA Division I-A football programs must now interview at least one racial minority candidate when a head coaching position is available.
This new policy was modeled after the “Rooney Rule” in the NFL, designed to help assure fairness and equal opportunity in the recruitment of head coaches. But unlike the NFL there is no penalty for noncompliance.
The Division I-A Athletic Directors’ Association put the rule in place this year with hopes of diversifying the largely white sidelines. Of the 119 Division I-A schools, only six have black head football coaches.
