THE MEDIA’S COVERAGE OF BLACK COACHES IN THE NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE: A CONTENT ANALYSIS OF SPORTS ILLUSTRATED by JEANETTE LYNN OWUSU, B.S. A THESIS IN MASS COMMUNICATIONS Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Texas Tech University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF ARTS Approved Anthony Moretti Chairperson of the Committee Judy Oskan Aretha Marbley Accepted John Borrelli Dean of the Graduate School May, 2005 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would first like to thank my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. My two years in Lubbock have clearly shown me the power of God and that I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. I thank my mother for being the mom she is. Her determination and understanding made me the strong individual that I am today, and her support has helped me through my lowest times. I thank all my family and friends for their help, encouragement and prayers. Many thanks are extended to Carter Chapel C.M.E. Church for the prayers and warm hearts. There are so many people that have contributed to me succeeding at this point in life, and much thanks is sent to Mrs. Underwood-Cox, Professor Dayton, Professor Tormey and Ms. Lockhart. I also must thank all individuals who tried to prohibit my progress to success. Their obstacles made me stronger. Last, but certainly not least, I must thank my committee. Their hard work, dedication, and support are greatly appreciated. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii LIST OF TABLES iv CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION 1 1.1 Statement of Purpose 1 2.1 Media Coverage 3 3.1 The Media and Coverage of Controversial Issues 5 4.1 Present Study 7 II. LITERATURE REVIEW 9 1.1 History of Blacks in the NFL 9 2.1 Past Research 13 3.1 Theory 18 4.1 Framing Studies 19 5.1 Hypotheses 24 III. METHODOLOGY 25 1.1 Justification for Selection of Sports Illustrated 26 2.1 Method Use 27 3.1 Codes, Categories/Coding Sheet 28 4.1 Inter-coder Reliability 31 5.1 Sports Illustrated 32 iii 6.1 Additional Sources 32 IV. RESULTS 34 V. DISCUSSION 48 1.1 Cover Photographs 48 2.1 Feature Articles 50 3.1 Kickers 52 4.1 Editorials/opinions 53 5.1 Sport blurbs 54 6.1 Subheads 55 7.1 Equivalent Season Ending Records 55 8.1 Limitations 58 9.1 Future Research 59 BIBLIOGRAPHY 61 APPENDICES 64 1.1 Coding Sheet 64 2.1 NFL Head Coaches at the Start of Each Season 65 Included in the Study iv LIST OF TABLES 4.1 Number of Overall Mentions of NFL Head Coaches by Race during 40 1998-2004 Seasons 4.2 Coverage of NFL Head Coaches by Race during the 1998 Season 40 4.3 Coverage of NFL Head Coaches by Race during the 1999 Season 40 4.4 Coverage of NFL Head Coaches by Race during the 2000 Season 41 4.5 Coverage of NFL Head Coaches by Race during the 2001 Season 41 4.6 Coverage of NFL Head Coaches by Race during the 2002 Season 41 4.7 Coverage of NFL Head Coaches by Race during the 2003 Season 42 4.8 Coverage of NFL Head Coaches by Race during the 2004 Season 42 4.9 Overall Coverage of NFL Head Coaches with Equivalent Season 42 Ending Records for Seasons 1998-2004 4.10 Coverage of NFL Head Coaches with Equivalent Season Ending 43 Records for the 1998 Season 4.10b NFL Head Coaches during the 1998 Season with Equivalent Season 43 Ending Records 4.11 Coverage of NFL Head Coaches with Equivalent Season Ending 43 Records for the 1999 Season 4.11b NFL Head Coaches during the 1999 Season with Equivalent Season 44 Ending Records 4.12 Coverage of NFL Head Coaches with Equivalent Season Ending 44 Records for the 2000 Season 4.12b NFL Head Coaches during the 2000 Season with Equivalent Season 44 Ending Records 4.13 Coverage of NFL Head Coaches with Equivalent Season Ending 44 Records for the 2001 Season v 4.13b NFL Head Coaches during the 2001 Season with Equivalent Season 45 Ending Records 4.14 Coverage of NFL Head Coaches with Equivalent Season Ending 45 Records for the 2002 Season 4.14b NFL Head Coaches during the 2002 Season with Equivalent Season 45 Ending Records 4.15 Coverage of NFL Head Coaches with Equivalent Season Ending 45 Records for the 2003 Season Records 4.15b NFL Head Coaches during the 2003 Season with Equivalent Season 46 Ending Records 4.16 Coverage of NFL Head Coaches with Equivalent Season Ending 46 Records for the 2004 Season 4.16b NFL Head Coaches during the 2004 Season with Equivalent Season 46 Ending Records 4.17 Overall NFL Head Coaches by Race with Equivalent Season Ending 47 Records 1998-2004 5.1 Expected Coverage of Caucasian NFL Head Coaches in Sports 58 Illustrated from 1998-2004 5.2 Expected Coverage of African-American NFL Head Coaches in 58 Sports Illustrated from 1998-2004 vi CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION While African-American and Caucasian refer to an individual’s ethnicity, and Black and White refer to a person’s skin color, the researcher will use the terms Black and White for this study. Statement of Purpose The purpose of this study is to determine if there is a difference in coverage in Sports Illustrated between Black and White NFL head coaches. The way in which the leading sports magazine covers Black coaches in the National Football League is important to increasing the participation of minorities in management careers in all levels of sports. Pascal and Rapping (1976), recognizing the importance of role models to America’s youth, suggested that segregation by position is reinforced as Black youths concentrate on positions in which Black stars are most visible. Eitzen and Sanford (1975) found that Black youth learn and subsequently occupy specific roles played by Blacks who attained a high level of achievement. Condor and Anderson (1984) studied the coverage of Black and White athletes in Sports Illustrated feature articles from 1960 to 1980. The study found that Sports Illustrated was resistant to change. Overall, as the numbers of Blacks increased in professional sport participation, the number of feature articles on Black athletes did not increase. 1 The researchers stated that in 1981, when the number of Black athletes in professional football surpassed 50 percent, Sports Illustrated featured Black football players as subjects in an equal number of feature articles to that of White football players. Condor and Anderson suggested that Black athletes benefited from increased coverage in American sport. The increased coverage of Black NFL players paralleled the emergence of football in national polls as the top spectator sport as well as the increased participation by Black players in the NFL. Burns (1988) studied position stacking in the NFL from 1968 through 1983. Stacking was defined as relegating specific races to certain positions, while excluding the same races from other positions. He concluded that Black players occupied 79.7 percent of the running back positions, 82.1 percent of the defensive back positions, and 76.2 percent of the wide receiver positions. Thus Blacks dominated non-central positions, while their White counterparts were found to overwhelming occupy central positions, including 96 percent at the quarterback position, 100 percent at center, and 75 percent designated as guards. Burns stated the importance of the study was directly related to the fact that Black athletes accounted for the majority of professional football players and the possibility of discrimination needed to be examined. Two-thirds of all NFL players in 2002 were Black but Blacks accounted for 6 percent of the head coaching positions. Beginning the 2004 season, five of the 32 NFL teams (15.6 percent) had a Black head coach (2004 NFL Record and Fact Book). Madden (2004) studied the differences in success of NFL coaches by race from 1990 to 2 2002 and concluded that Black coaches performed better than White coaches based on a comparison of regular-season wins and participation in the playoffs. Madden stated that the data are consistent with Black coaches having to be better than Whites in order to be hired as a head coach in the NFL. Madden (2004), Williams (1994), Burns (1988), Braddock (1981), Eitzen and Sanford (1975) and others have contributed to studies involving the differences between Black and White athletes, from their salaries to stacking at certain positions; however, very few studies have examined Black coaches in professional sports, and none has studied the way in which print media cover Black coaches in the NFL. The current study plans to add to past research of Blacks in sports but study a position of Blacks in professional football that has been overlooked. Media Coverage Tyrone Willingham was named head football coach at the University of Notre Dame in 2001, becoming the first Black coach in any sport in the university’s 263-year history. Willingham was also the first coach at Notre Dame released before the completion of his initial contract. Media speculation during the 2004 season surrounded Willingham’s job security. The overall message in coverage of Notre Dame and its coach by some of ESPN’s talk- shows, including Pardon the Interruption, Around the Horn, and Outside the Lines, and other sports programming as well in the pages of Sports Illustrated did not suggest that Willingham would be released early from his contract. Most sports journalists believed 3 that because Notre Dame had never fired a coach before his/her contract expired that Willingham would not be an exception.