Notre Dame's Marcus Freeman understands why he stands out in the Black college coaching community.
The history of Black men getting opportunities to lead FBS programs is limited, even as representation of Black players has increased on the field. About half of Power 5 teams have never hired a Black head coach, including the past five national championship winners (Georgia, Alabama, LSU, Clemson and Ohio State).
Those who get head-coaching jobs usually spend many years as assistants before taking over programs near the bottom of the Power 5 or Group of 5, such as Derek Mason (Vanderbilt), Turner Gill (Kansas), Jon Embree (Colorado) and Joker Phillips (Kentucky).