Tom Williams broke a barrier when he became Stanford's first African-American football player in 1954. These days, he's still trying to remove racial obstacles. A San Francisco executive search consultant, Williams, '58, has created The Level Playing Field, a database of names and profiles to help minority football coaches reach top levels in college and the pros.
Of 115 football coaches at NCAA Division 1 schools, five are African-American. In the National Football League, three of 31 head coaches are black. Williams knows that one key to improving these numbers is to increase the visibility of minority candidates. He says coaches are hired via "an old boys' system, where people call three or four people they know."
With The Level Playing Field, Williams hopes to expand the knowledge base of those who hire coaches. He's gathered profiles of some 50 coaches and plans 250 more. Subscribers pay $15,000 a year for full access to his website, www.tlpf.com. So far, Stanford, Ohio State and the Pac-10 conference have signed on. No NFL team has yet bought in, but Minnesota Vikings coach Denny Green, a former Stanford head coach, is on the advisory board -- as is current Stanford head coach Tyrone Willingham. (Both Green and Willingham are African-American.) Williams believes getting hired is the biggest roadblock facing minority coaches: "It doesn't matter what color your skin is. If you win, they're going to keep you."
