James Franklin ‘honored’ as he considers FBS Black head coach

On January 10, 2025By Littum

In football, minority representation in management has been a topic of conversation for years, both collegiately and professionally.

Now there’s a new layer to the conversation as Penn State football prepares to take on Notre Dame in the College Football Playoff semifinals in the Orange Bowl, where two Black head coaches, the Nittany Lions’ James Franklin and the Fighting Irish’s Marcus Freeman, will stand. facing each other on the sidelines.

The winner of that game will go on to compete for an FBS national championship, the first time a black head coach will even get that opportunity. Franklin was asked about this in a news conference Saturday afternoon, and he reflected on the first time it happened in the NFL.

“It makes me think of when Tony Dungy and Lovie Smith played in Super Bowl XLI in 2007. That was the first Super Bowl with a black head coach at all, let alone two.

“Obviously, Dungy becoming the first black coach to win a Super Bowl, which was significant. I remember as a coach thinking how significant that was in the profession and how significant it was for young coaches who come up in the profession, to see those guys in the profession.”

Out of 134 FBS programs, 16 employ black head coaches. That doesn’t sound like much, but as Franklin pointed out when reflecting on his time at Kansas State under Ron Prince, there were once only six coaches out of 127 schools.

“I know some people will say it’s not a huge increase. But it is an increase,” Franklin said.

Franklin also referred to other coaches he has met over the years, from Mississippi State’s Sylvester Croom to current Atlanta Falcons coach Raheem Morris, who was on Franklin’s staff at Kansas State, and how the presence of those individuals would affect the profession for aspiring Black coaches. He even mentioned Tyrone Willingham, the first black head coach in Notre Dame history, who once tried to recruit a highly touted high school linebacker to South Bend: Marcus Freeman.

Race in coaching is a topic Franklin rarely discusses, but he is keenly aware of it. He knows the statistics regarding head coaching demographics and what it means if he or Freeman go on to win a national title. Franklin mentioned in an HBO interview that one of his goals is to be the first African-American football coach to win a college national championship.

“I’m very proud of it. I think you guys know in the past there were some conversations I had privately for a long time. But you know, I’m very proud of it. I’m honored,” Franklin said of potentially going to the title game as a black head coach. “I’m honored to compete against Marcus (Freeman). I’m honored to compete against Notre Dame.”

It is worth mentioning that Franklin was born in 1972; in 1979, Willie Jeffries became the first black head coach of a Division IA program (now known as FBS) ever. Franklin was alive when a black football coach made history, and he has a chance to make history himself.