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Sunday, December 22, 2002

By Ed Bouchette, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

Johnny Cochran's threat to sue the NFL unless it hires more black coaches might not fly, and his proposal for the league to award extra draft picks to teams that hire black coaches is far-fetched.

But by barging into the issue, the famed lawyer at least stirred the NFL into some kind of action, and one or two more black head coaches should be hired before next season.

NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue appointed Dan Rooney to head a committee on diversity with its prime objective to encourage opportunities for minorities to advance in the league. The spotlight, though, is on the head coaches because only two of the 32 are black men -- Tony Dungy in Indianapolis and Herm Edwards with the New York Jets.

Within a week, some news likely will emerge from that committee.

The number of black head coaches could double next year. Harrisburg native Dennis Green, who spent the past year working for ESPN after a successful nine-year coaching career in Minnesota, should be among the first coaches hired. Next should be Fort Cherry native Marvin Lewis, the defensive coordinator of the Redskins. Lewis turned down an opportunity to coach Michigan State because he believes his time is at hand in the NFL.

One NFL club executive claimed that some teams might not fire their coaches because so much pressure will be on them to hire a black coach. That may be true; either way, there will not be a large number of coaches losing their jobs. It appears that Cincinnati's Dick LeBeau and Jacksonville's Tom Coughlin will go. Other possibilities are Dave Campo in Dallas and Detroit's Marty Mornhinweg.

Others might try to leave on their own, such as Mike Holmgren in Seattle and Steve Mariucci in San Francisco, in order to fill one of the other jobs.

As coordinator of the NFL's No. 3 defense this year and the No. 1 defense last year, Tim Lewis also should be on a list of black coaching candidates. But he doesn't want anyone to make a special case for him.

"I think what happens over the course of time," Lewis said, "is people make a to-do about race that need not be made a to-do about. Just put your head down to the grindstone, do your job as good as you can, and ultimately I think the rewards will come.

"I can't speak for people, I can only speak for me. I was raised to do just that. My mom always told me don't worry about things you can't control and try to control the things you can, and all I can control is my work ethic."

The topic has not become a big topic among the players, at least not in the Steelers' locker room, receiver Hines Ward said, but they'd like to see the league make some strides in that area.

"It's not a major issue, but it's an issue," said Ward. "There are a lot of African-Americans in the NFL. You'd figure there would be more black owners, more black coaches. But that's coming around. You're starting to see trends now. It's all a matter of timing. We have two now, maybe five years from now there will be five more. They're taking a step in the right direction."

Jerome Bettis thinks the NFL has done a good job in its minority grass-roots program but not so well in promoting those coaches through the ranks.

"They have a minority program, but that just gets them in the door. I don't know if they ever promoted black coaches to be assistants to be head coaches. They've done a lot to get them in, but not up."

Bettis believes some owners will not hire a black coach.

"You have owners who may not believe in it, and you have owners who probably think where they're located is just not conducive to a black coach, maybe in the South or Southwest or somewhere like that. They would probably, rather than create a controversy, just take the easier road. I think Dungy is the one exception. Everyone else was up North."

Dungy coached in Tampa Bay before he was fired after last season. No other black man has been a head coach below the Mason-Dixon Line.

"There are some well-qualified guys out there," Ward said, "and you wonder why haven't they gotten their chances?"