Nicholls State has something most other colleges in America do not: two minority coaches.According to a study by the University of Central Florida’s Institute for Diversity and Ethnics in Sport, whites hold 330 of 357 campus leadership positions at the 119 Division I-A schools. This includes presidents, athletic directors, head coaches and coordinators.

Lady Colonels head basketball coach Mark Cook said universities should go after the best candidate.

“It all depends on the administration,” Cook said. “If the administrator is looking for the best available person, then it shouldn’t matter.”

The author of the study, Richard Lapchick, said in an Associated Press article that the goal is to get the best people hired for jobs.

“We feel like once that process is opened up, more African-Americans are going to be hired as presidents,” Lapchick said. “More are also going to be hired as athletic directors.”

According to the Black Coaches Association, minority head football coaches in Division I-A football have dropped from eight in 2004, to three in 2005. Only Tyrone Willingham at Washington, Karl Dorrell at UCLA and Sylvester Croom at Mississippi State are minority head coaches.

According to the study, of the 241 total offensive and defensive coordinators in Division I-A football, 24 were black, three were Asian and two Latino.

Colonels and Lady Colonels head tennis coach Dominic Modise, from South Africa, said he believes numbers are low because not everyone is taking advantage of their opportunities to coach.

“People make choices; if you want to be a coach it’s hard,” Modise said. “You have a lot of young men who are capable of being coaches, but they just have to take advantage of it.”

The numbers are a bit higher for both men and women’s college basketball.

Of the 11 teams in the Southland Conference, men’s basketball has three minority coaches, while women’s basketball has two, including Cook.

Cook said winning will increase the numbers even more.

“I think it makes things easier for the administrators because it opens their eyes up for more candidates for the job,” Cook said. “You just have to hire the best person available and take everything else out of the selection process.”

On the association’s Web site www.bca.org, a report card is given to schools that hired a new football coach last year.

The report card rates from categories including: time frame to hire coaches, communication with coaching candidates, candidate grade, search grade and affirmative action.

Southland Conference schools such as Stephen F. Austin, Sam Houston State and Southeastern were among the 30 schools graded for their interview process.

On the report card only five out of the 30 teams received an A: Indiana, Ohio University, Illinois, UNLV and Michigan.

Sam Houston State received a C, while Stephen F. Austin received a D, and Southeastern received an F.

Unlike the NFL and Major League Baseball, the NCAA does not require schools to interview a minority. The NFL fines any team that does not interview at least one minority. The “Rooney Rule” states that a sit-down interview with a minority candidate is required by any team looking for a new coach.

This past season in the NFL, the top three finalists for NFL coach of the year were of minority decent. Lovie Smith of the Chicago Bears beat out Tony Dungy of the Colts and Marvin Lewis of the Bengals.

Other minority coaches in the NFL include Dennis Green of the Cardinals, Romeo Crennel of the Browns and Herm Edwards of the Kansas City Chiefs.

Both Cook and Modise have learned to take advantage of their opportunities.

“As a minority coach, you have to prove yourself,” Modise said. “Things can change, but it’s always important to remember where you come from.