With all-white leadership, Gophers athletic department under fresh scrutiny to improve diversity; Coyle has hired 11 white head coaches

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BleedGopher

BleedGopher

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per Megan:

The University of Minnesota has gone 14 years without hiring a person of color as a head coach and remains the only Big Ten institution without a single person of color in the role of president, athletic director or head coach.

With men's basketball coach Richard Pitino's tenure likely nearing an end, the Gophers' lack of diverse leadership is drawing renewed scrutiny. Even before the speculation about Pitino's future, Big Ten Commissioner Kevin Warren had noticed how the university's president, Joan Gabel, athletic director Mark Coyle and all 19 head coaches are white.

"They're aware," Warren said of Gabel's and Coyle's recognition of Minnesota's diversity gap. "I trust them. And I trust that they will always be focused on doing the right thing."

In the midst of renewed calls for racial equality after George Floyd's death under the knee of a Minneapolis police officer in May, the Gophers have fallen behind their peers in diversity hiring.

Since Coyle came to the Gophers in 2016, he has made 11 head coaching hires, including for revenue-generating teams football and men's hockey as well as programs such as wrestling, softball and women's basketball. All are white. The Gophers haven't hired a person of color at head coach since Tubby Smith in men's basketball in 2007.

"I would argue that we've done many things that are visible to the outside world," Coyle said. "If you look at our football program and putting 'End Racism' on our football jerseys for the Purdue game, highly visible, national audience."

www.startribune.com

With all-white leadership, Gophers athletic department under fresh scrutiny to improve diversity

Athletic director Mark Coyle has hired 11 white head coaches in his tenure.
www.startribune.com www.startribune.com

Go Gophers!!
 

What a lovey parting gift by Meg. Glad she is moving on. At least in the comment section, the majority seem to be pushing back.

I also find the title of the article funny, they aren’t under scrutiny by anyone except you.
 



11 is such a small sample rate... really hard to know how much diversity you should see when it comes to ... 11.
 





FredCoxRocks said:
Meanwhile, here is a picture of the Star Tribune Leadership Team.

View attachment 12007


(Someone in the Strib comments said to Google it, so I did. Too funny.)
Click to expand...
Serious Questions:

Is Megan Ryan in management at the Strib with the authority to hire and fire employees?

If Megan Ryan was in management at the Strib with the authority to hire and fire publishers, vice-presidents and editors, does anyone seriously think the management staff would look like the people in the photos?

The above post is ridiculous and Coyle needs to hire minority coaches starting with Men's Basketball.

1615396161875.png
 
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@Go4Broke: Get woke, go broke. You are asking way to much of skin color to make it a factor in elite performance hiring.
 



LesBolstad said:
Woman of color, like Meghan Markle

View attachment 12008
Click to expand...

Go4Broke said:
Serious Questions:

Is Megan Ryan in management at the Strib with the authority to hire and fire employees?

If Megan Ryan was in management at the Strib with the authority to hire and fire publishers, vice-presidents and editors, does anyone seriously think the management staff would look like the people in the photos?

The above post is ridiculous and Coyle needs to hire minority coaches starting with Men's Basketball.

View attachment 12011
Click to expand...
A screen grab would be less muddled.
 





I can already tell this thread won't go well...
 

I think it's a fair conversation to have, but the way Ryan frames it is sensationalizing the story.
It would be really interesting for her to do a story on the reasons behind it. Is the U actually shunning candidates of color or are there not enough candidates out there? If there aren't enough candidates out there, why? What could be done to encourage more candidates of color?
 

Word said:
I think it's a fair conversation to have, but the way Ryan frames it is sensationalizing the story.
It would be really interesting for her to do a story on the reasons behind it. Is the U actually shunning candidates of color or are there not enough candidates out there? If there aren't enough candidates out there, why? What could be done to encourage more candidates of color?
Click to expand...
Yeah I'd like to know more detail than just... some elementary math... even if it were to be addressed you need more than "11" to know how to deal with it.
 


Pete smith said:
One more time, hire the best person available REGARDLESS of the color of their skin.
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Personally I believe that white people look at Black people as being inferior in their minds. Therefore who you think is the best person to hire perhaps may be different from my point of view. We live in a racist society and always has been.
 

Hire best candidate, active in community, yes, yes, that's all good. But Coyle sounds incredibly tone deaf with the 'End Racism' on the jerseys thing. Obviously there's more context to what he said. But seeing that in print is just cringe-worthy.
 

#2Gopher said:
Personally I believe that white people look at Black people as being inferior in their minds. Therefore who you think is the best person to hire perhaps may be different from my point of view. We live in a racist society and always has been.
Click to expand...
Gold
 

#2Gopher said:
Personally I believe that white people look at Black people as being inferior in their minds. Therefore who you think is the best person to hire perhaps may be different from my point of view. We live in a racist society and always has been.
Click to expand...
Personally, I don't believe you can read other people's minds.
 

D1 sports tend to function on the "hire a buddy" program. AD's tend to hire people they know or have some kind of a connection with. if their circle does not include a lot of minorities, then odds are that they're probably not going to hire a lot of minorities.

Nobody is suggesting that the U or any other school should deliberately hire inferior candidates based on skin color.

but, if you have a job opening, and there are several candidates who are relatively equal in qualifications, I think it's fair to consider hiring a minority candidate - providing that you believe they can do the job.

and who knows - maybe a minority head coach might give the U an advantage in recruiting minority athletes. A black coach just might be able to relate to a 17-year-old black kid in a way that a 50-year-old white guy couldn't.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
D1 sports tend to function on the "hire a buddy" program. AD's tend to hire people they know or have some kind of a connection with. if their circle does not include a lot of minorities, then odds are that they're probably not going to hire a lot of minorities.

Nobody is suggesting that the U or any other school should deliberately hire inferior candidates based on skin color.

but, if you have a job opening, and there are several candidates who are relatively equal in qualifications, I think it's fair to consider hiring a minority candidate - providing that you believe they can do the job.

and who knows - maybe a minority head coach might give the U an advantage in recruiting minority athletes. A black coach just might be able to relate to a 17-year-old black kid in a way that a 50-year-old white guy couldn't.
Click to expand...
Then they must be suggesting the U is deliberately hiring inferior candidates due to race currently.
 

Meg has always been off base quite a bit. I take none of her columns with any seriousness. She is an attention grabber and takes advantage of the social times to gain notoriety.
 


short ornery norwegian said:
and who knows - maybe a minority head coach might give the U an advantage in recruiting minority athletes. A black coach just might be able to relate to a 17-year-old black kid in a way that a 50-year-old white guy couldn't.
Click to expand...
I would replace the word might to would in a heart beat if I could in people's mind.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
D1 sports tend to function on the "hire a buddy" program. AD's tend to hire people they know or have some kind of a connection with. if their circle does not include a lot of minorities, then odds are that they're probably not going to hire a lot of minorities.

Nobody is suggesting that the U or any other school should deliberately hire inferior candidates based on skin color.

but, if you have a job opening, and there are several candidates who are relatively equal in qualifications, I think it's fair to consider hiring a minority candidate - providing that you believe they can do the job.

and who knows - maybe a minority head coach might give the U an advantage in recruiting minority athletes. A black coach just might be able to relate to a 17-year-old black kid in a way that a 50-year-old white guy couldn't.
Click to expand...

IDK about that, seems like Saban is doing very well for himself
 

Maybe I’m in the wrong but I remember when you would buy crayons from the 10 pack to the ultra cool 256 colors. I remember there was always a white crayon, so technically the UofM has hired a person of color.
 

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