Marshall Faulk shares strong views about racial disparity in key college, pro jobs - NBC Sports
James Uthmeier probably won’t want to read this. Even if he should.
A recent article from Brent Schrotenboer explores the lack of Black coaches at the college level (https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaaf/2026/05/19/black-head-coaches-college-football-deion-sanders-michael-vick-marshall-faulk-eddie-george-hbcu/90046518007/) . It includes pointed quotes from Hall of Fame running back Marshall Faulk, who is in his first year as the head coach at Southern University, regarding the inability of Black players to become coaches at the college or pro level.
First, the facts. As Schrotenboer notes, only 13 major-college programs have Black head coaches. That’s down from 17 out of 120 in 2011.
‘Football’s the only sport that players struggle to come off the field and become a coach,’ Faulk told Schrotenboer. ‘They look at us like if you’re successful at the game playing then you won’t be successful at any other capacity.’
‘I’m just gonna say what it is,’ Faulk said. ‘Matt Ryan can be a G.M. Why do other players kind of go through and jump through the hoops to be a G.M.?’ (Ryan is the president of football with the Falcons, one step above the G.M.)
‘What’s the quarterback [coach] that’s now in Minnesota?’ Faulk added, referring to former NFL quarterback Josh McCown. ‘He was in Houston. They were about to give him the [head coaching] job. He barely played. Played a few games in the league. But it happens. You can be JJ Redick and never have coaching experience and get the Lakers job. But can Marshall Faulk get the Rams job? Hell no. It is what it is.’
The numbers don’t lie, and facts are stubborn things. As it relates to the current (and historic) numbers in both college and pro football, something is clearly off. The demographics of the coaching population don’t match the demographics of the player population.
The only way it will change is through litigation. Which is slow. And expensive. And detrimental to the career of the person who dares to stand up and say something about it — especially in the current political climate.
The current political climate is sufficiently hostile to the notion of diversity that Uthmeier is hassling the NFL for diversity efforts that have failed to move the needle. Beyond being wrong (and probably performative), it’s bizarre.
Hiring systems supposedly based on ‘merit’ have created results that speak for themselves. And what those results are saying is that there has been, and continues to be, a very real problem. Even if some will insist it’s a problem to try to fix it.
