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How Race Affects Dismissals of College Football Coaches

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  • FRANKLIN G. MIXON, JR.
  • LEN J. TREVIÑO

Abstract

We employ a discrete-time hazard model and a Blinder-decomposition approach to explore the possibility of racial discrimination in the dismissal and retention of college football coaches by university administrations. A rich data set consisting of 81 institutions over an 11-year period (1990-2000) that contains, in addition to a coach's race, variables on cumulative winning records, annual on-the-field improvements, and pre-/post-season game participation by institutions and their coaches is employed. Our study finds that black coaches, on average, face a dismissal probability that is 9.6 percentage points below that of their nonblack counterparts, ceteris paribus, suggesting that black head coaches may be the beneficiaries of favorable treatment by university administrators. Such a result likely stems from universities' approach to social concerns involving race and gender issues. This finding also fits a construct that considers workplace discrimination as multi-dimensional. For example, black representation in the college football coaching ranks may be disproportionately low, possibly as a result of discrimination. However, once hired, black coaches are given more time to succeed than nonblacks, other things constant. "You have almost as good a chance of seeing an African-American on the cast of Friends as one wearing a head coach's headset on a football sideline" (Caple, 2001).

Suggested Citation

  • Franklin G. Mixon, Jr. & Len J. Treviño, 2004. "How Race Affects Dismissals of College Football Coaches," Journal of Labor Research, Transaction Publishers, vol. 25(4), pages 645-656, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:tra:jlabre:v:25:y:2004:i:4:p:645-656
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    Cited by:

    1. Stefano d’Addona & Axel Kind, 2014. "Forced Manager Turnovers in English Soccer Leagues," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 15(2), pages 150-179, April.
    2. Nolan Kopkin, 2014. "You’re Fired!: The Impact of Race on the Firing of Black Head Coaches in Major College Football," The Review of Black Political Economy, Springer;National Economic Association, vol. 41(4), pages 373-392, December.
    3. Solow, Benjamin L. & Solow, John L. & Walker, Todd B., 2011. "Moving on up: The Rooney rule and minority hiring in the NFL," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 18(3), pages 332-337, June.
    4. David Branham, 2008. "Taking Advantage of an Untapped Pool: Assessing the Success of African American Head Coaches in the National Football League," The Review of Black Political Economy, Springer;National Economic Association, vol. 35(4), pages 129-146, December.
    5. Yvon Rocaboy & Marek Pavlik, 2020. "Performance Expectations of Professional Sport Teams and In-Season Head Coach Dismissals—Evidence from the English and French Men’s Football First Divisions," Economies, MDPI, vol. 8(4), pages 1-20, October.
    6. Gilfix Zach & Meyerson James & Addona Vittorio, 2020. "Longevity differences in the tenures of American and foreign Major League Soccer managers," Journal of Quantitative Analysis in Sports, De Gruyter, vol. 16(1), pages 17-26, March.
    7. Daniel LaFave & Randy Nelson & Michael Doherty, 2018. "Race and Retention in a Competitive Labor Market," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 19(3), pages 417-451, April.
    8. Kahn, Lawrence M., 2006. "The Economics of College Sports: Cartel Behavior vs. Amateurism," IZA Discussion Papers 2186, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    9. Paul Holmes, 2011. "Win or Go Home: Why College Football Coaches Get Fired," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 12(2), pages 157-178, April.
    10. Salaga, Steven & Juravich, Matthew, 2020. "National Football League head coach race, performance, retention, and dismissal," Sport Management Review, Elsevier, vol. 23(5), pages 978-991.
    11. John Goddard & John O. S. Wilson, 2009. "Racial discrimination in English professional football: evidence from an empirical analysis of players' career progression," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 33(2), pages 295-316, March.
    12. Lawrence M. Kahn, 2007. "Markets: Cartel Behavior and Amateurism in College Sports," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 21(1), pages 209-226, Winter.

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