joed|rt wrote:
Truth is Here. wrote:
In other words, you think black people are better at sports and inferior at "intellectual" tasks. If you're such an adult, why don't you say what you really mean instead of being coy? Just say that you think black people are, by and large, less equipped for the highly intellectual position of coaching a sportsball team than white people. I think we all know that the reason you aren't explicit is because it sounds bad and racist. And it is.
Each individual should be evaluated based on their own merits regardless of race. On a macro scale, however, there is a difference between thinking something and what the statistics say. The athletic attributes speak for themselves. Just look at the 60-meter dash rankings in the NCAA (there's typically one token white guy). On the academic side, black football players have significantly lower college graduation rates, lower GPAs, lower test scores, etc. than white football players. Flores himself is an example of the importance of education in becoming an NFL head coach (he went to an elite prep school, earned an English degree and a master's degree in administration from Boston College). Before this lawsuit came out, I would have expected him to get another coaching job in the near future.
Playing in the NFL is not a pre-requisite for coaching in the NFL. Less than 20% of NFL coaches played in the league. Even Flores himself never played in the league, so referencing participation rates in the NFL in his case is a false argument. Belichick (who many hold up as the greatest coach of all time) played D3 offensive line, lacrosse and squash. Harbaugh (who I believe is one of the greatest coaches in the NFL) played sparingly as a defensive back at Miami of Ohio (but did win the scholar athlete award). Ron Rivera (who I believe is a top coach) actually played in the league, but also grew up with military discipline and went to Cal Berkeley (a tough academic school). Mike Tomlin never played in the NFL but went from playing football at William and Mary into coaching.
Unfortunately, many young athletes believe they will become professionals in their respective sports and don't seriously pursue their academics (about 2/3 of college football players believe they will go pro, while less than 2% actually do). Many are admitted to schools they have no academic basis to attend and end up in pointless majors where they are assisted in obtaining passable grades. Most never learn how to run a business (an essential skill if you want to coach), use computers, perform mathematical analysis, etc. Coaching, play calling, coordinating in the modern era is increasingly focused on analytics.