CHAMPAIGN, Ill. _ Like most young boys for generations in Texas, Lovie Smith rooted his heart out for the Dallas Cowboys on Sundays.
"I wanted to be a coach, but the guy I saw on the sideline didn't look like me," Smith told the Tribune. "Tom Landry was on the sideline. Everything about Tom Landry was good. But he didn't look like me. "
Smith was in his late 30s, having played and coached for more than a quarter century, when he joined Tony Dungy's Buccaneers staff in 1996 as the linebackers coach. It was the first time Smith worked or played for a black head coach.
Smith, 62, raised his index finger.
"The only time," he clarified.
As the first black coach in the 130-year history of Illinois football, Smith is intentional and thoughtful about creating and cultivating his staff to provide young black coaches an opportunity, just as Dungy did for him.
"Our staff has a little bit different look," Smith said.
Illinois has eight black coaches, the most in FBS. Arizona State has seven under Herm Edwards, who worked on Dungy's staff with Smith.
Smith and Edwards are two of 14 African American head coaches out of 130 FBS programs. All but four of 65 Power Five programs in 2019 had four black assistants or fewer.
The lack of representation seems to start at the top.
Nearly 85% of athletic directors in 2018-19 were white, while only 8.8% were African American. Almost 90% of football head coaches were white men, and black coaches made up 7.3% of the position.
Because most coaches were former players, the lack of African American head coaches is especially striking. Black college football players made up 48.5% of FBS rosters, while white players accounted for 34.8%, according to the 2019 annual report by The Institute of Diversity and Ethics in Sports.
For Smith, common sense should be enough to solve the issue. If only.
"I guess what the University of Illinois is saying is that a man of color can lead men of color, or anyone for that matter," Smith said. "A lot of times when other (universities) don't have people that look like the world, (they say,) 'Well, I don't know anybody (of color to hire).' No, there are qualified people out there. I guess we just seem to find them."
Racial representation can be profound for athletes of color, particularly in the nation's current climate.
As protests fill American streets following the highly publicized killings of unarmed black people _ including George Floyd in Minnesota and Breonna Taylor in Kentucky _ by white police officers, sports organizations and players have become more outspoken about racism.
In a recent NBC Sports interview, Smith said he welcomes activism and fosters personal growth among players.
"I've been asked a lot of times: 'Can you give me a statement about what's going on right now?' " he said. "It's so much more than that. A few things we need to acknowledge and we can't go much further until we do that: Systemic racism exists in our world. It's one thing to identify the problem, and then it's how we change that problem. It can't be words."
Having coaches who understand black players' desires to protest or to empathize when they share a personal experience of dealing with racism is important.
"It gives me some confidence having him there beside me (on the sideline)," said Illinois running back Ra'Von Bonner, who recently spoke at a rally against police brutality. "It's also nice to have a coach that I don't have to explain this to. He knows why I'm doing it. It definitely gives me confidence and some sense of comfort."
Smith's staff is "meaningful," said N. Jeremi Duru, a professor of sports law at American University who advises the Fritz Pollard Alliance.
"All of the social science indicates quite clearly that casting a wide net in any sort of employment context and seeking diversity and implementing diversity leads to better outcomes," Duru said. "It's not just that you're giving an individual opportunity, although that's part of it. There's self-interest in it. Diversity is good for business. It's good for production. Those who don't see that put themselves at a competitive disadvantage.
"Lovie Smith is pursuing (staff diversity) not just because he wants to ensure people who perhaps haven't had opportunities before are getting them now but because he wants to succeed and he sees this as an appropriate means of reaching that goal."
