https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/colleges/oregon-law-on-hiring-practices-might-be-just-what-college-football-needs/2016/12/08/866396de-bd91-11e6-94ac-3d324840106c_story.html?utm_term=.a8ad2dc614f9Willie Taggart became the head football coach at Oregon on the basis of his record. He earned the job through tireless recruiting, explosive offensive game plans and training under the likes of Jim Harbaugh and David Shaw. Over four years, he turned the moribund University of South Florida into a 10-2 conference power. He is, at 40, one of the best young coaches in the country, and he is at a place worthy of his ascent.
Taggart’s hiring is noteworthy, regrettably, because of the color of his skin. In a sport in which a majority of players are African American, Taggart became the seventh black man in charge of a Power Five conference football team, of which there are 65. In all of major college football, 14 of 128 schools are coached by African Americans. A lot of big-time football programs have never hired a black head coach. Before Wednesday, Oregon had been one of them.
“I never thought Oregon would hire a black football coach,” Portland-area civil rights activist Sam Sachs said. “I never thought I would see that day.”
