Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin spoke out on a topic that is rarely discussed and that’s the lack of minority coaches in college football, particularly in the SEC and the Big 12 where there are currently no black head coaches in either conference.
Kiffin allowed his wide receiver’s coach Derrick Nix to take over as head coach for 24 hours just to get the experience of being a head coach.
Kiffin was approached about the subject and the answer he gave might surprise some.
“That was done not as a PR thing,” Kiffin told reporters. “That was really done to give him an opportunity to see what it’s like.”
“There’s more Tony Dungys, there’s more Lovie Smiths, there’s more Mike Tomlins that never get the opportunity. … We’re in 2023, and between SEC and Big 12, we have no minority head coaches. That’s really unfortunate, not that I’m going to be able to change that,” he added.
Kiffin said he hopes Nix’s experience will help him get a head coaching job someday.
“I just hope coaches like Coach Nix in this profession – Black coaches that don’t get opportunities – start getting opportunities,” Kiffin said,” because it is ridiculous when we’re talking about two major conferences right here in this area, and when whatever it is, 80% of our players are minority but we have all white coaches. It’s really a system that needs to be fixed.”
