Black College Coaches Collide in National Title Semifinal
By Kenneth Miller|Sports Editor
Two absolutely brilliant men, whose stellar character is rarely talked about, will be on the sidelines when Penn State and Notre Dame collide for the right to advance to the College Football Playoff Championship Game on Jan. 20 in Atlanta.
Marcus Freeman of Notre Dame and James Franklin of Penn State will be competing to determine the first Black coach to contend for a National College Football Championship. (Associated Press Photo)
Pennsylvania native James Franklin will pilot the once revered program that was left in shambles after the Jerry Sandusky sex scandal brought the bronze statue of the late Joe Perterno tumbling to the ground.
The bridge to Franklin was Bill O’Brien, a respected NFL coordinator, who departed for a return to the NFL which allowed the Nittany Lions to pry Franklin from Vanderbilt, a school that was marred in its own gang rape sex scandal under Franklin’s watch.
A rigorous vetting process by the Penn State brass revealed that Franklin’s hands were clean and hence he embarked onward as the savior of the school formerly known as linebacker U.
James Franklin is so good as a football coach that his race is rarely discussed. He’s born to a Black father and white mother, so he’s classified as Black and his ethnicity will be front and center because he’s the head coach in a national semifinal with a chance to lead his team to a National Title.
His record at Penn State (13-2) is 101-41 and 112-54 overall during his career, but has been notably criticized for not winning pivotal games against top rated opponents and his team will be a slight underdog when they face Notre Dame.
Notre Dame (13-1) will be marched onto the field by an equally adept man in the name Marcus Freeman born to a Black military father and a South Korean mother, but a former standout linebacker at prestigious Ohio State has demonstrated that he can match X and O with anyone.
The Fighting Irish hired him after he had served as their defensive coordinator and linebackers coach under Brian Kelly who left for LSU. Many so-called critics scoffed at the hire, citing his lack of head coaching experience, but the players adored him.
Still the question remained if that admiration will lead to success on the football field, but in Freeman’s case it has.
The 38-year old, has led the Fighting Irish to a 31-9 record since being hired, checking off all of the necessary boxes of beating rival USC and competing for National Championships during his brief tenure. The former 5th round draft pick of near by Chicago Bears is now being speculated as their next head coach.
Like Franklin, Freeman’s race is front and center during this semifinal because of the high stakes and the fact that no Black has ever won a college football national championship.
To their credit they have embraced this moment in history, with neither of them shying away from the opportunity to uplift the minority coaching community which in most instances is the last one hired and the first one fired.
Case and point is Jarod Mayo who after one season was fired by the New England Patriots and Antonio Pierce who was also fired after just one season by the Las Vegas Raiders.
Culturally, some Blacks have struggled with who is or isn’t “Black”.
When Barack Obama became the 44th President of the United States of America in 2008, Black America was euphoric, celebrating as if there was no tomorrow.
Then when Obama was running for reelection four years later, Blacks cast doubt on Obama’s blackness.
I am proud that I was born to a Black man and a Black woman, albeit two mired in poverty that led to a lifelong struggle for survival.
However, like me Franklin, Freeman or Obama had no choice in whom their parents decided to mate, and in this hypocritical universe that we reside today where one can choose their gender after birth, determining one ethnicity should not be debatable.
Regardless of whether your father or mother is Black then the dominant gene is Black, their success or lack thereof has nothing to do with it.
So, on Jan. 20 there will be a Black coach competing for the College Football National Championship.
