Alabama's coaching selection decided by skin color, not merit
By Aaron Juarez
In a smoke-filled room last week in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, the "good ol' boys" at the University of Alabama settled down to select a new head football coach. Still reeling from the recent embarrassment of former coach Mike Price's stripper scandal and the program's current NCAA probation status, one would hope that by hiring a qualified, experienced coach, Alabama officials would set the program on a promising course.
They probably weighed the qualifications of the two leading candidates, Sylvester Croom and Mike Shula. Croom, current running backs coach of the Green Bay Packers, is a Tuscaloosa native and a former All-America center at Alabama who then served 10 years as an assistant coach, six under none other than the legendary Bear Bryant.
In addition, Croom has served 16 seasons as running backs coach and offensive coordinator with five teams in the NFL, overseeing a second-ranked Detroit Lions offense in 1997 and Packers running back Ahman Green's consecutive 1,000-yard rushing seasons in 2001 and 2002.
Mike Shula, the Miami Dolphins quarterbacks coach, has served 15 years in the NFL as an assistant coach and offensive coordinator for three teams. As offensive coordinator of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 1996-99, Shula's offense struggled mightily. As quarterbacks coach for both teams, Shula was unable to make Trent Dilfer or Jay Fiedler into much more than average quarterbacks. Shula also was a former quarterback at Alabama from 1983-86, garnering two all-SEC selections, but he has no college coaching experience.
On paper, Croom's qualifications dwarf Shula's not only in achievement but. also in relation to the university. However, one detail gave Shula the most important advantage over Croom: Shula is white and Croom is black.
In its 70-year history of the Southeastern Conference (SEC), there has never been an African-American head coach.
This past Friday, Mike Shula was given the nod. Instead of using their second chance to open doors for African-Americans and other minorites to head coaching jobs in the SEC, Alabama chose to remain stuck in the mud of exclusion. Like former Alabama governor George Wallace blocking the doorways of the university in an attempt to prevent integration, University of Alabama athletic director Mal Moore and president Robert Witt have positioned themselves at the doorway of the Alabama head coach's offices.
"It was [Mike's] mix of enthusiasm, experience and ties to the University of Alabama that made Mike the perfect fit for this job," said Moore upon announcing Shula's hiring, oblivious to Croom's superiority in all three of those categories.
If you're experiencing déjà vu over that quote, there is good reason. Remember last season, when Notre Dame (also a storied program at the time mired in controversy) hired George O'Leary for the same type-casting reasons, only to have him resign in shame a few days later when inconsistencies on his resume were uncovered?
At least Notre Dame made right in their second chance, which was to hire Tyrone Willingham, who became the first African-American head coach at Notre Dame and returned the program to glory.
The harmful reality of this situation is not only that Sylvester Croom will not get his deserved chance to coach his alma mater. The true crime is that through no fault of his own will he not get this chance. In the SEC and at the University of Alabama, the invisible bag of privilege is unfortunately still valid currency.