Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
Since 2005, the NCAA has been more actively assisting minority football coaches in their efforts to ascend to head coaching positions, in part through the establishment of the Diversity and Inclusion Department.
One of the Department's first initiatives was to sponsor the "NCAA Football Coaches Academy" and "Expert Coaches Forum." The former is a program for minority coaches with 1-8 years of college football coaching experience, while the latter is for coaches with 8 or more years on the sidelines. The programs' stated aims are to "assist ethnic minority football coaches with career advancement through skills enhancement, networking and exposure opportunities while raising awareness regarding the substantial pool of talented ethnic minority coaches."
This year, the NCAA asked BYU Defensive Coordinator Jaime Hill to apply for inclusion in the Forum, and this past week, he attended the 3-day workshop in Dallas. As detailed by the NCAA, "The Forum is designed to improve and reinforce various aspects of securing, managing and excelling in head football coaching positions at the intercollegiate level."
I exchanged e-mails with Coach Hill today, and here are some of his thoughts on the experience:
"The program was truly awesome; I now have a better understanding and respect for those who are head coaches. The program provides you with inside look of what can be expected from the Presidents of Universities, Athletic Directors, as well as the selection committees. We were taught how to work with and navigate through the media, and what can be expected from Search Firms and Sports Agents."
On how the Forum will benefit him moving forward:
"I believe by me going through this program, I have a greater understanding of what to expect when interviewing for Head Coaching positions, and the types of things the University is looking from their potential Head Coach. This forum provided me with the necessary tools needed to be successful in my desire to be a Head Coach."
On the value of the Forum for coaches like him:
"This forum provides information that isn't readily available to the masses. What the Expert Forum has done is provided individuals with an outline of procedures that are necessary once you get the interview, which hopefully enable you to get the job."
Since its inception in 2005, eight head coaches of color have been hired at the FBS and FCS levels. The Expert Coaches Forum has had four of the eight coaches "graduate" through its program:
Ron Prince (Kansas State)
Norries Wilson (Columbia)
Trent Miles (Indiana State)
Kevin Sumlin (University of Houston)
Coach Hill enters his first year as BYU's Defensive Coordinator this fall, having served previously in that capacity with the University of Chicago, Portland State, San Francisco Demons (XFL), Humboldt State and the Ottawa Renegades (CFL). Among his other stops was a one-year stint as Secondary coach with my hometown team, the CFL's Calgary Stampeders.
While BYU fans would like to "hang on" to Coach Hill for as long as possible, his pursuit of a head coaching job will inevitably take him away from Provo. Participation in the Expert Coaches Forum will only serve to underscore his own talents and abilities, while his players' performance on the field will hopefully continue to bring him the attention that sustained excellence demands.
*******
