The two will meet in the College Football Playoff semifinals with the winner becoming the first Black head coach to reach the college football title game.
The spring and summer of 2020 was a fraught time for college football coaches. Their sport was shut down by the COVID-19 pandemic, cutting them off from recruiting future players and on-field interaction with their current players. Then George Floyd’s murder beneath the knee of a police officer in Minneapolis added to the angst.
Five football seasons later, that future may be now. And Franklin may be that coach. Or it may be Marcus Freeman of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. Franklin and Freeman face each other in the Orange Bowl on Thursday night, with the winner advancing to play for the national championship on Jan. 20. It is, far and away, the most significant game between two Black head coaches in the annals of their sport.
Fact is, it took 18 years since that Super Bowl for the college game to come close to a similar milestone moment. College football has long lagged behind the NFL in minority hiring and promoting—and it’s not like the NFL is a beacon of enlightenment in that area. “There’s plenty of qualified minority coaches who need the chance to prove they can be CEOs of major football programs,” Carter says.
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