Tampa Bay Bucaneer Head Coach, Todd Bowles, made headlines the other day when a reporter asked about race. Specifically, the reporter asked the coach how he felt about facing another rival black coach in the NFL (Mike Tomlin) in the upcoming game. Bowles responded,
“I have a very good relationship with Tomlin. We don’t look at what color we are when we coach against each other. We just know each other. I have a lot of very good white friends that coach in this league as well, and I don’t think it’s a big deal as far as us coaching against each other. It’s normal. Wilks got an opportunity to do a good job; hopefully he does it. And we coach ball. We don’t look at color.”
Another reporter pushed back, talking about representation and the importance of a young black kid seeing someone who looks like him and who maybe grew up like him in this position. Bowles responded, by saying,
“Well, when you say ‘you guys’ and ‘look like them’ and ‘grow up like them,’ that means that we’re oddballs to begin with. I think the minute you guys stop making a big deal about it, everybody else will as well.”
Context: There are 7 minority head coaches in the NFL out of 32 teams. Four of those 7 coaches are black. At the moment, the NFL is being sued for alleged discriminatory practices in their hiring processes, essentially arguing that team owners are not giving black individuals the same opportunities as white individuals to become coaches in the NFL. It is also important to note that American society is focused on topics of inclusion and equity. This creates a great debate about topics such as discrimination, affirmative action and merit.
Joe’s Perspective: This blog is not intended to settle this societal debate. It is intended to ask you to ponder such issues, particularly when this week’s trait is tolerance. These issues are complex and everyone has an opinion. I think it’s interesting that Todd Bowles’ comments made headlines. It’s surprising to me that his comments are seen as controversial. Fundamentally, all he did was downplay the upcoming meeting between two black coaches. He was attempting to normalize this occurrence. It has happened many times before, including in the Super Bowl. Members of the media wanted to make a big deal about it, but Bowles was saying that it is business as usual. “We coach ball. We don’t see color.” Some will hear those comments as refreshing and others will say that he is tone-deaf.
If we were having this conversation 50 years ago and probably 25 years ago, I would say race played a major role in the hiring practices of most NFL team owners. Douglass Pollard became the first black coach in the NFL in 1921. The NFL waited until 1989 to hire the second head coach. Since then 27 black head coaches have been hired by various teams in the NFL. Two of those coaches have coached a winning Super Bowl team. The numbers don’t lie. If your skin tone was black or brown prior to the year 2000, the odds of you landing a head coaching job in the NFL were almost zero, which meant that race was the determining factor ahead of talent, experience or leadership ability. That is the definition of racism.
However, my main belief today is the urge to win outweighs any prejudice that they may otherwise have. Team owners fill their rosters with the best talent they can find regardless of skin color. This includes the players on the field and the coaches on the sidelines. Seventy percent of the players in the NFL are black, which tells me that when the draft comes along, they are evaluating talent and drafting players that they believe will help them win the most amount of games. It seems to me that team owners would take the same philosophy towards hiring coaches. Today, I don’t believe that a team owner would hire a white coach over a black coach if he believes the black coach gives him an advantage to win. Why? He wants to win and will optimize every advantage to do so. And, because of this desire to win, I believe it’s just a matter of time before we see more black coaches in the NFL. However, I fully acknowledge that I could be wrong.
Your Turn: After hearing Todd Bowles’ comments, what are your thoughts on this matter?
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I think that color doesn’t mean anything and people that still bring it up are silly.
I think that he is right when he says that he coaches football, and that has nothing to do with race.
I think that he has every right to say what he wants. When he says he just wants to coach ball, I agree with him because why does it matter what you look like if you just want to do what you love?
I think that he has every right to say what he wants. When he says he just wants to coach ball, I agree with him because why does it matter what you look like if you just want to do what you love?
I agree. I am very happy that race doesn’t matter like it did a long time ago. It doesn’t matter at all about race and I am very glad that people are finally realizing that.
I think he handled it very well. he made it clear that you should not make it clear about being a colored coach going against another colored coach. He did the right things by making it clear that it’s not just colored people but both and to make them together.
I don’t think that color is coming into play with equality in this. There is many black players in the nfl who are treated very well.
He is correct, race has no place in the game or coaching.
After hearing Todd Bowles’ comments,, my thoughts are that he is right with the idea that talking about someone of a different race like they are oddballs makes a big deal out of something that doesn’t need to be. Coaches are coaches and players are players, they benefit the team no matter their race and that’s how it should be.
I agree with coach Bowles. People need to stop caring so much about skin color. That’s not what people should be focusing on
I think it’s nice that they don’t care about color. They shouldn’t care
That everything should be fair no matter the skin color. Cause a player is a player and a coach is a coach.
My thoughts are very strong when saying that color is truly not the main factor within coaching/sports. A person’s character or morality should be what sees fit whether they’re white or black or any other race.
It seems that the nfl is progressing and getting better at just seeing the values of the coach more than their appearance. I do not believe they are intentionally not hiring people of color.
I agree that no one should get to miss out on a opportunity because they aren’t liked due to their skin color.
I agree because most things only continue because people keep them relevant
he has good points. it doesn’t matter what you look like. it matters how you play.
That everyone should have a equal chance for a job
I feel like color doesn’t make a difference in any case because at the end of the day the coaches are just there to do there best for their players and be a good coach. Color has nothing to do with the sport whatsoever in the sport.
I think it’s being a bit over exaggerated because like it stated, there are actually more black coaches in the NFL than white, so I don’t feel like there really is any problems in the NFL.
i think its awesome he can stick up for himself and call the reporter out. In sports, race has absolutely nothing to do with anything. It shouldn’t even be talked about.
I think that race shouldn’t matter and that people should have equal opportunities.
Discrimination isn’t good
I think that there’s a lot of unintended racism. I don’t think that race should matter because at the end of the day we are all coaches doing the same thing;making our team better. Why should it matter if I came from detroit and you came from auburn hills?
I love this article. It shows how sports should be like even when it is just coaching, without discrimination of any kind. When the team sees the coach doing it, it sets example on the teams behalf on what sportsmanship is.
I love this article. It shows how sports should be like even when it is just coaching, without discrimination of any kind. When the team sees the coach doing it, it sets example on the teams behalf on what sportsmanship is. This is truly a good example of a coach.
It don’t matter what color you are to play or coach a sport.
I think Todd Bowles made a very strong point about black and white people coaching. There is no difference, everyone there has the same goal no matter your skin color.
I think that what the author had said was correct and that it would only make sense to pick coaches that will help your team which isn’t based off skin color.