Esteemed USC athletics officials join Sports Law Society event
Although the world of sports has come a long way with regard to racially equality, it still has a long way to go.
Consider: although 56 percent of the NCAA’s Division I football players are black, there are only four black coaches at the 120 member universities.
For its inaugural event, and in recognition of Black History Month, the USC Sports Law Society organized an all-star panel of Trojan athletic department officials Feb. 19 to tackle this issue and to tell students about their careers, including:
- Ken Norton, Jr., a three-time Super Bowl champion; assistant head coach for defense and linebackers at USC;
- Dr. Brandon E. Martin, senior associate athletic director and a former USC basketball player; and
- Jane Teixeira, director of compliance at USC, formerly a student athlete eligibility official at the NCAA and a softball player at the University of Texas.
Norton, who is black, said his transition to coaching was a logical extension of his playing career. When he could no longer play, he wanted to help others achieve the same successes he did.
“When I was a player, I never had a great coach,” Norton explained. “I always wanted someone to mentor me, to show me how to play the game.”
Norton said the exposure and accolades he has received since joining the USC staff in 2004 have changed his career goals, because there are obligations that come with being a rising star in the coaching profession.
“I never got into this to be a head coach, but as you stay around long enough and start realizing your position as a black man in the business; you have to do things,” Norton said. “You can’t just sit there and be content, because you have a responsibility to everyone else.”
Martin, meanwhile, has become successful not as a coach, but as an athletic administrator. Although he has been with the USC athletic department only since 2000, he is already one of its highest-ranking officials. He is personally responsible for nine — or just under half — of all the Trojan teams. He also oversees admissions for all sports and is the athletic department’s liaison with student affairs for conduct issues. Additionally, Martin, who received his Ph.D. in education at USC, is a clinical professor at the USC Rossier School of Education.
Now in a position to hire coaches, Martin says the process has changed dramatically. Once upon a time, athletic officials simply made a list and interviewed candidates. Today, search firms are involved. Each firm has a pool of candidates, and for one reason or another, a vast majority of these coaches are not black.
“A lot of the same candidates are being recycled through the system,” Martin said. “One of things I believe is important as an African-American and an athletic administrator is to find ways to promote people like [Norton] and other African-American coaches coming down the pipeline.”
Some suggest that number of black coaches in the college ranks would improve with the implementation of a “Rooney Rule.” The National Football League’s Rooney Rule, named for Pittsburgh Steelers owner Dan Rooney, requires teams to interview minority candidates for head coaching vacancies.
But Teixeira explained that the NCAA’s procedure for implementing such a rule is quite complex because the NCAA is a nonprofit organization that unifies member schools; there is no way it can unilaterally impose on its membership.
More specifically, Teixeira said NCAA rules are voted on by member institutions after being proposed by schools, conferences or committees. The proposal would have to come from, say, a school president, athletic director or other official.
“Although people say the NCAA has to put in a Rooney-type rule, it’s going to be difficult to do,” Teixeira said. “Could it happen? Possibly.”
With or without such a regulation, football pundits expect Norton to be a head coach before long. He said he’s ready for the challenge.
“When you look at the black coaches, when they actually get the opportunity, they do quite well,” Norton said. “By the time we get there, we’re going to be qualified: we’re going to have faced a lot of steps.”
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