(ThyBlackMan.com) The landscape of college sports continues to shift in a tremendous way. The NCAA, which is the governing body of college athletics in America, and the NCAA Board of Governors has broken their long-held tradition of forbidding student-athletes from earning income and voted unanimously to allow them to profit from their names, images and likenesses. This is clearly a response to the recent California bill to allow NCAA athletes to make money off their likeness. The NCAA plans on implementing a plan “in a manner consistent with the collegiate model.” There is still a lot to work out in terms of the rules and implementing them within timelines. This is a win for college athletes in especially revenue-generating sports like college football at the Football Subdivision level, the highest level. Despite this potential gain, college football coaches will probably find more ways to publicly disrespect their players.
Back in 2003, then-Oakland Raiders head coach Bill Callahan publicly blasted his team to reporters following a loss by his team. He said,“We’ve got to be the dumbest team in America in terms of playing the game. I’m highly critical because of the way we give games away — we give ’em away! Period. It’s embarrassing, and I represent that. And I apologize for that. If that’s the best we can do, it’s a sad product.” It was not the best reaction by a head coach but he criticized professional athletes getting paid to execute their jobs so there is some 
understanding there. Over a decade later, Washington State college football head coach Mike Leach blurred that line.
Earlier this season, Leach decided to publicly insult his football players beyond saying their play was bad. Also following a loss, Leach said, “We’re a very soft team. We get a lot of good press. We like to read it a lot. We like to pat ourselves on the back, and if we get any resistance, we fold. And what’s amazing about this is most of these guys were on the same team last year that was a tough team. Last year’s team was a tough team for us. We have nearly the same guys and now all of a sudden they’re not tough. They’re fat, dumb and happy and entitled.” Football is a tough sport so a coach calling his players soft is not surprising and shouldn’t be criticized but the “dumb” comment is a bit over the top especially when a significant percentage of his roster is comprised of black athletes.
Leach’s actions are nothing compared to the actions taken by one of the best college football head coaches in America, Clemson’s Dabo Swinney. Swinney, who is also the highest paid head coach in America, took his frustration out one of his players who was thrown out of a game earlier this season for fighting. Freshman Clemson defensive back Andrew Booth got tangled up with an opposing player and got into fisticuffs with him before being ejected from the football game by the referees. After the game, his head coach Dabo Swinney, told reporters that Booth did not join the team charter plane back to Clemson. Instead, he took the seven-hour bus ride home to give him some time for solitary reflection. It is important to note that Booth is a freshman and that Swinney has mentioned the he had not had any problems before with Booth prior to that incident. It is hard to believe that he would treat a grown man in shaming him that way.
It is clear that many college football head coaches use the leverage that they have from their unpaid athletes to publicly shame them at times. There is a line between discipline and respect and if college football players are allowed to earn money off their names and likeness, college football coaches may feel more empowered to discipline young men that they feel are “entitled”. It is a label often given to black professional athletes despite the obstacles and hard work that they put in to achieve the level of success that they have.
Staff Writer; Mark Hines
