Another View

The following are the watchlist honorees:

NFL assistant coaches (9): Eric Bieniemy (Washington), Mike Caldwell (Jacksonville), Brian Johnson (Philadelphia), Aaron Glenn (Detroit), Jerrod Johnson (Houston), Tee Martin (Baltimore), Raheem Morris (Los Angeles), Steve Wilks (San Francisco), Joe Woods (New Orleans)

College football head coaches (4): Charles Huff (Marshall), Jay Novell (Colorado State), Willie Simmons (Florida A&M), Larry Scott (Howard)

College asst football coaches (18): Tony Alford (Ohio State), Alex Atkins (Florida State), Tim Banks (Tennessee), Doug Belk (Houston), Alonso Carter (San Jose State), Josh Gatlin (Maryland), Chris Hampton (Oregon), Jerry Flack (Tennessee), Chidera Uzo-DiribeI (Georgia), Brennan Marion (UNLV), Chris Marve (Virginia Tech), Deland McCullough (Notre Dame), A.C. Patterson (Portland State), Corey Peoples (Georgia State), Larry Porter (North Carolina), Terry M. Smith (Penn State), Holman Wiggins (Alabama)

Volleyball head coaches (11): Haley Eckerman (Kent State), Ryan Adams (Williams & Mary), Kayla Black (Philander Smith), Cherie Lindsey (Prairie View A&M), Nikkie Sanlin (McKendree University), Joelle Mafo (Clark-Atlanta University), Paige Phillips (Grambling), Alexis Austin (Texas Southern), Alicia Wood (Illinois College), Ray Gooden (former coach, Northern Illinois), Kamille Jones (University of Illinois Springfield)

“I felt every year I’ve been able to improve and get better,” said Joshua Walker, who joined the Baylor staff in 2022, and was promoted to associate head coach in 2023. We met him after his team played at Minnesota last fall.

ABIS is a nonprofit organization that boldly advocates for equity and inclusion for Blacks in sports, especially in coaching. An oft-asked question is ‘Why is this so important?’

“You have to be prepared to have an answer to come back at [this],” founder Gary Charles told the MSR, and the ABIS Coaches Watchlist helps in this regard.

“I learned my Blackness. I’ve always felt that we needed to celebrate us and not have to wait for someone to tell us how to celebrate us,” explained Charles, who grew up in the same neighborhood as Public Enemy’s Chuck D. and Eddie Murphy, among others.

The ABIS list is compiled by Charles with fellow Black coaches making suggestions, and it is shared with athletic administrators, executive search firms, and others who are heavily involved in hiring coaches. The next list will be out around March Madness for Black basketball coaches.

“We need to write our own story and stop letting somebody else write our story,” said Charles.