A recent study has found that college football teams with Black coaches are penalized more often than teams with white coaches, with the former being given five to seven more penalties per season, Buzzfeed News reported.
“Teams with Black head coaches are more frequently penalized,” said lead author Dr. Andrew Davis of North Carolina State University.
College football teams usually receive 4-10 penalties per game, and a season might have 50-150 penalties for a team.
“Penalties, no matter how many yards they are worth, can disrupt the momentum of a team, kill scoring drives, cost important yardage and downs on defense, and cost teams precious opportunities in close games,” Davis said.
Although the study found an association, it could not conclusively prove the additional penalties were directly due to race or ethnicity.
The study – published in Social Science Quarterly – comes amid rising concern about the lack of Black football coaches at both the professional and college level.
