Locksley Forms National Coalition of Minority Football Coaches
Head coach Mike Locksley announced the creation of the National Coalition of Minority Football Coaches, according to NFL.com. The second-year Maryland head coach becomes the president and founder of the organization tasked with identifying and grooming both men and women minority coaches “for upward mobility” while creating a list of candidate list vetted by the board of directors.
"When I took the Maryland job last year and looked at the landscape of college football, I thought to myself, there's something missing. I'm on the back nine of my career and the pathway to becoming a head coach is still as difficult as when I got into the business in 1992," said Locksley. "I wanted to create an organization that would be able to help prepare, promote and produce the next group of coaches coming up through the ranks at every level."
NCMFC Board of Directors:
· Ozzie Newsome, Hall of Famer on college and pro levels, first Black general manager in the NFL, overseer of two Super Bowl winners in Baltimore.
· Nick Saban, University of Alabama head coach and six-time national champion.
· Bill Polian, Pro Football Hall of Fame general manager whose teams participated in five Super Bowls, winning one.
· Mike Tomlin, Pittsburgh Steelers head coach, two-time Super Bowl participant and XLIII winner.
· Doug Williams, Super Bowl XXII MVP quarterback and Washington Football Team executive.
· Oliver "Buddy" Pough, South Carolina State head coach.
· Willie Jeffries, first Black head coach in Division I football at Wichita State.
· Chris Grier, Miami Dolphins general manager.
· Debbie Yow, retired basketball coach and pioneering college administrator.
· Rick Smith, former Houston Texans general manager.
· Desiree Reed-Francois, UNLV athletic director and first Hispanic female and woman of color to be AD at an FBS school.
"These are all people that have either hired head coaches or coordinators or filled upper-level positions throughout their careers," Locksley said in the interview. "They all have been at the top of the mountain, per se, in their respective areas, whether winning Super Bowls or national championships or being pioneers, like Debbie Yow and Willie Jeffries. We want to use their experiences to help us formulate and produce the list of qualified candidates, so when people say there aren't enough minorities to fill the positions that have come open over the years, we're going to produce a list of qualified people that shows there are qualified people. What's needed is opportunities."
Locksley became one of four African-American head coaches upon his 2009 hire as the head coach at New Mexico and eleven years later, he returns as one of 14 African-American head coaches among college’s 130 Football Bowl Subdivision teams. The National Coalition of Minority Football Coaches aims to reverse that exact trend as the two-year process to organize the foundation will begin the five-month process of formulating the initial list of vetted candidates. The foundation also aims to begin a lecture series aimed to enhance knowledge for the game, developing positive relationships with players, student-athletes, parents and fans while educating how to market themselves as football coaches.
Thursday’s announcement comes two months after the Maryland football program issued a unified statement in response to widespread protests amid the death of George Floyd and police brutality. “We want to be difference makers so that being Black in America is something people are prideful of and not fearful of,” the team said. “We recognize that we need to use our platform as Division I athletes, especially because of our proximity to Washington DC, to discuss racial inequality, injustice and begin to promote equality.” The team highlighted voter registration as a key theme in their message as Maryland looks to start a community service program to provide transportation to underserved areas.
Locksley also joined the third annual Quarterback Coaching Summit back in June, a two-day event created by a partnership between the NFL and Black College Football Hall of Fame to help promote opportunities for minority coaches on the offensive side of the ball. San Francisco defensive coordinator Robert Salah, Pittsburgh Steelers president Art Rooney II, Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy and Tampa Bay offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich were among the 36 coaches and presenters invited to the event.
For more information about the National Coalition of Minority Football Coaches, visit: http://ncmfc.com/.
