NCAA invites college football coaches to “Expert Forum” for hiring minority coaches

The NCAA invited 20 football coaches to its 2011 “Expert Forum” on minority coaches in the NCAA. The forum will look at career advancement, exposure, networking and job opportunities for coaches within the NCAA.

The Forum is June 16-18 in Orlando, Fla., in conjunction with the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) convention.

The 20 coaches are:

– Steven Aycock, head coach, Johnson C. Smith University
– David Brown II, head coach, Missouri University of Science and Technology
– Wendell Davis, assistant coach, Christopher Newport University
– Granville Eastman, defensive coordinator, Austin Peay State University
– Darin Edwards, defensive line, Sacred Heart University
– Dwayne Foster, assistant head coach/recruiting coordinator/offensive line, North Carolina Central University
– Carl Franks, secondary coach/recruiting coordinator, Western Illinois University
– Jermaine Gales, offensive coordinator, St. Augustine’s College
– Kevin, Grisby, head coach, Saint Paul’s College
– Kefense Hynson, wide receivers coach, Yale University
– Jerry Mack, offensive coordinator, University of Arkansas, Pine Bluff
– John Morgan Jr., defensive coordinator, North Carolina Central University
– Dawson Odums, assistant head coach/defensive line, Southern University
– John Pearce, assistant coach, Prairie View A&M University
– Kelvin Powell, defensive coordinator, Clark Atlanta University
– Antone Sewell, defensive coordinator, Bowie State University
– Terry Sims, assistant head coach/special teams coordinator and safeties, Bethune-Cookman University
– Reginald Trotter, defensive coordinator, Missouri Western State University
– Curtis Walker, defensive coordinator, Coastal Carolina University
– James Ward, assistant coach, University of Nevada

Per NCAA.org:

Though the NCAA does not have hiring authority over its member colleges and universities, the national office provides programming that helps prepares coaches for many of the issues they will experience at the head coaching level in the NCAA structure. There is no on-field coaching instruction that takes place at the Forum; rather, coaches focus on off-the-field topic matter that will assist them in handling management functions and NCAA issues as those areas relate to the head coach role.

The Expert Forum programming covers several areas that fall in line with head coaching duties:

– Communications – media, booster relations, interviewing skills
– Fiscal Responsibilities – fundraising, budgeting and development
– Building a Successful Program – managing coaching staffs, maintaining relationships with university/college presidents, athletic directors, alumni, student-athletes, faculty and members of the community
– Compliance Considerations – gambling issues, NCAA rules and regulations/infractions, agents, choices/consequences, and integrity
– Academic Issues – academic support, academic fraud, retention, NCAA rules and regulations, academic success

The number of ethnic minorities who attain head football coaching positions has improved. However, the overall numbers are still low. Currently, there are 18 ethnic minority coaches throughout the 120 Division I Football Bowl Subdivision schools; 10 ethnic minority coaches at the 101 Division I Football Championship Subdivision schools; four ethnic minority coaches at the 133 Division II schools and nine ethnic minority coaches at the 229 Division III schools. The figures do not include Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Coaches who participate in the Expert Forum have expressed an interest in being a head coach at an NCAA college or university within their current division or in another NCAA division.

In addition to the Expert Forum, the NCAA Leadership Development group also directs the Future Coaches Academy for student-athletes who want to learn more about the football coaching field; the Football Coaches Academy (less than eight years of experience); and the Champions Forum, which links participants from past Expert Forums with NCAA athletics directors who have hiring power and key networks in athletics. The NCAA created its Coaching Academies in 2004.