This won't quiet the Floyd Keith and the Black Coaches and Administrators, but the timing is interesting. Just one day after announcing it was building a case to potentially bring litigation against colleges and universities who appear to keep passing on black coaches in favor of white coaches, Eastern Michigan is set to announce Ron English as its next head coach.By hiring English, the number of black head coaches is still an appalling five out of 119 at Football Bowl Subdivision schools.
This is a great move by the Eagles. English, who is 40, was an outstanding defensive coordinator under Lloyd Carr at the University of Michigan, before spending this past season at Louisville. He did well at first with the Cardinals, but injuries ravaged his defensive unit down the stretch and UL was torched by West Virginia (35-21) and Rutgers (63-14).
Eastern Michigan gets a hard-working coach who should be able to recruit the state well and get EMU to a competitive level in the Mid-American Conference. As I mentioned yesterday, this is a great opportunity for English to build the program and enhance his reputation before looking for the big-time job.
Now it's time for others institutions to recognize other qualified black candidates and give them a chance.
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2 comments:
not a bad hire, although i think Michigan fans might give you a different opinion on English's DC abilities.
The biggest problem for English is that Eastern is an absolute dead-end gig as far as facilities and money. It's kind of the Kent State of Michigan state schools. It will take a herculean effort by English to win there.
You would have said the same about Turner Gill and Buffalo a few years ago. You can pull off miracles in the MAC.
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