Let me preface this by saying I do realize this may offend some people. So, sorry in advance, but it is a topic that I think a lot of people would admit to thinking about if being honest..
When the decision was made to hire Darrell Hazell to coach at Purdue I'll admit he wasn't at the top of my list, but soon I was feeling optimistic. At first I couldn't quite pinpoint why. Was it his one winning season at Kent State? His experience working for a winning program and coach at OSU? His calm and cool demeanor? Or was it simply a desire for change?
I think it was a little bit of all of the above. But there was that other thing. The thing I kept coming back to, even though it made me uncomfortable for even thinking it. Given the historical image of Purdue, a conservative, majority white midwestern school, and whatever disadvantages this image creates on the recruiting trail, now we finally had an antidote of sorts. Our first ever black head coach. Somebody who could walk into the living room of minority recruits and say I know the issues you face.
Maybe it was wishful thinking, but in my mind that alone was enough for a bump in recruiting. Not that 4 and 5 star recruits of color would automatically jump aboard just because, but maybe we'd start winning more recruiting battles against peers with older white men as coaches (like we used to have). I guess in my mind it was some weird likeness of affirmative action. If blacks want to help each other overcome history and get ahead, why not go play for the black head coach if all else is essentially equal? This would seem to be the case for many 3 star, some 4 star recruits.
But that never came to fruition in year one. And after 2-3 years of historically bad results, obviously the issue became moot. No one wants to play for a losing coach, regardless of skin color. But the question remained in my mind. Why could he not get the initial recruiting off the ground? Was he torpedoed so quickly by the futility of his very first season? Or was I overestimating the impact of a black coach within the black community? If it is the former I can sort of understand, although having a rough year or two after a coaching change is not exactly unheard of. If it is the latter, I guess I am just a tad jaded. In a society where we are essentially asked to give preferential treatment for skin color to offset past discrimination, why were black families not going out of their way to support a black coach?
Anyway, the whole national anthem boycotting thing. We all (or 99%) want to see racial equality. There are different ideas on how to achieve it. Sure there is responsibility on the powers-that-be. Keeping this to football, there has been the Rooney rule in the NFL to promote hiring of minority coaches. Colleges such as Purdue are giving qualified candidates the chance. But isn't there also responsibility on the community to help by supporting these black coaches? Across college football and basketball I just don't see it. The top recruits keep signing with programs led by old white men. Maybe in the future there will be more of an effort by the players and their families to shape the system in constructive ways. Unfortunately for this coach it is too late.
When the decision was made to hire Darrell Hazell to coach at Purdue I'll admit he wasn't at the top of my list, but soon I was feeling optimistic. At first I couldn't quite pinpoint why. Was it his one winning season at Kent State? His experience working for a winning program and coach at OSU? His calm and cool demeanor? Or was it simply a desire for change?
I think it was a little bit of all of the above. But there was that other thing. The thing I kept coming back to, even though it made me uncomfortable for even thinking it. Given the historical image of Purdue, a conservative, majority white midwestern school, and whatever disadvantages this image creates on the recruiting trail, now we finally had an antidote of sorts. Our first ever black head coach. Somebody who could walk into the living room of minority recruits and say I know the issues you face.
Maybe it was wishful thinking, but in my mind that alone was enough for a bump in recruiting. Not that 4 and 5 star recruits of color would automatically jump aboard just because, but maybe we'd start winning more recruiting battles against peers with older white men as coaches (like we used to have). I guess in my mind it was some weird likeness of affirmative action. If blacks want to help each other overcome history and get ahead, why not go play for the black head coach if all else is essentially equal? This would seem to be the case for many 3 star, some 4 star recruits.
But that never came to fruition in year one. And after 2-3 years of historically bad results, obviously the issue became moot. No one wants to play for a losing coach, regardless of skin color. But the question remained in my mind. Why could he not get the initial recruiting off the ground? Was he torpedoed so quickly by the futility of his very first season? Or was I overestimating the impact of a black coach within the black community? If it is the former I can sort of understand, although having a rough year or two after a coaching change is not exactly unheard of. If it is the latter, I guess I am just a tad jaded. In a society where we are essentially asked to give preferential treatment for skin color to offset past discrimination, why were black families not going out of their way to support a black coach?
Anyway, the whole national anthem boycotting thing. We all (or 99%) want to see racial equality. There are different ideas on how to achieve it. Sure there is responsibility on the powers-that-be. Keeping this to football, there has been the Rooney rule in the NFL to promote hiring of minority coaches. Colleges such as Purdue are giving qualified candidates the chance. But isn't there also responsibility on the community to help by supporting these black coaches? Across college football and basketball I just don't see it. The top recruits keep signing with programs led by old white men. Maybe in the future there will be more of an effort by the players and their families to shape the system in constructive ways. Unfortunately for this coach it is too late.
