In The News

Opinion: This Year’s ‘Black’ Monday Had No Choice But To Be White
December 31, 2019

Carron J. Phillips

Not only is it harder for Black men to get head coaching jobs in the NFL, but they also have to deal with “always being on the hot seat,” and rarely get a second chance to prove themselves. A recent report from the Global Sport Institute at Arizona State University and the Paul Robeson Research Center for Innovative Academic & Athletic Prowess at the University of Central Florida College of Business researched just how hard it is for Black coaches to get, and keep, a job.

One of the main culprits has been the disregarding of the Rooney Rule. When Roger Goodell was named Commissioner in 2006, there were a total of seven minority head coaches and four minority general managers in the league.

New study: Minority coaches still fare worse during NFL hiring process
December 30, 2019

African Americans and other minorities don’t have the same opportunities as white people to become head coaches in the NFL or get rehired after leaving a head coaching position, according to a recent working paper.

While the 2003 enactment of the league’s overhauled hiring guidelines and mandates, dubbed the “Rooney Rule,” have led to more coaches of color leading teams on a yearly basis, researchers found that minorities still fare worse when it comes to hiring, retaining their positions and being granted “second chances” at head positions.

The working paper, which studied the race, prior experience and future experience for head coaches and offensive and defensive coordinators over 10 years (2009 through 2018), was conducted by the Global Sport Institute at Arizona State University along with the Paul Robeson Research Center for Innovative Academic & Athletic Prowess at the University of Central Florida College of Business.

Life-changing ventures win investment at ASU Demo Day competition
December 10, 2019

"While pitching to the judges, several of the entrepreneurs shared how they learned hard lessons during the startup process. Ricky Johnson, an ASU alum, is CEO of Barrage Training Tech, and invented a pressure-sensitive sleeve that wraps around a punching bag so workouts can be done without a trainer. He described how he took the first prototype to some local boxing gyms for boxers to try out.

“It was horribly ugly and it had duct tape and hot glue on it and batteries were flying everywhere,” he said.

So Johnson, who earned a degree in computer engineering at ASU in 2017, spent months and a lot of money to refine his prototype, and on Friday, he won $3,000 in the Global Sport Venture Challenge competition."

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