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Abstract
The purpose of this study was to analyze Black male collegiate coaches' understandings and perspectives about building a coaching career in NCAA Division I athletics and the function of the Black Coaches and Administrators (BCA) as a mechanism to help facilitate more coaching opportunities. The participants were seven Black male assistant coaches from a flagship doctorate-granting university in the Midwest region of the United States. The research method was descriptive-qualitative. The primary data sources were face-to-face semistructured taped interviews and e-mail follow-ups. The data were analyzed using a descriptive coding strategy, which exposed the dominant theme of networking mechanism. The major findings in this study indicate that because they lack social capital resources, minority candidates are at a disadvantage compared to their White counterparts for attaining jobs and career advancement in NCAA Division I athletics. Implications from the findings of this study are that networking is critical to career advancement in athletics and that Black coaches should better understand the function of the BCA and how the association might support their career and advancement.
Statistically speaking, for the 2009-2010 academic year, the percentage of Black male head coaches at the Division I level was 6.6% and for assistant coaches 17.4% (Lapchick, 2012). This is important to recognize because Division I coaching represents the highest level of intercollegiate athletics in the United States (National Collegiate Athletic Association [NCAA], 2013). Moreover, the student-athlete population in Division I athletics contains an abundance of Black males who could continue their respective careers in athletics as coaches.
The most recent "Racial and Gender Report Card" by the Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport indicates a decline in the percentage of Black males compared to the 2007-2008 season when Black males accounted for 7.2% of the head coaches at the Division I level (Lapchick, 2012). During the 2008-2009 academic year, Black males also accounted for 16.7% of the assistant coaches at the Division I level. Yet unlike head coaching trends, the percentages remained consistent compared to 2007-2008 as Black males accounted for 16.5% of the percentage of assistant coaches at the Division I level. The sports of basketball and football have shown the highest participation of Black males as assistant coaches compared to other sports. For basketball...