Over the years, Frank Martin has raved about Kentucky’s John Calipari, calling him one of the “most innovative thinkers in the coaching industry.”
So, when he approached Martin this offseason about helping out with an initiative to help minorities break into administrative roles at the college level, it was a no-brainer for him to get involved.
“We immediately jumped on it because it makes so much sense,” Martin told GamecockCentral. “Minority hiring has really evolved throughout college athletics. It’s still not where it needs to be, but it’s grown. The one place we haven’t seen so much growth is in administrative jobs with presidents and vice presidents and provost and obviously in athletic administration. This is a way for all of us to create real change to put minorities in a place where they can pursue these kinds of jobs and get real opportunities walking in the door.”
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Calipari started the McLendon Minority Leadership Initiative, which is designed to provide access and create opportunities for minorities in college athletics with the hopes of getting them one day into leadership roles on campus and in athletic departments.
Martin is one of almost 40 coaches who have lent their names to this initiative as ambassadors and is joined by coaches across four sports: men’s and women’s basketball, football and baseball.
In that group includes Calipari and Harvard’s Tommy Amaker, who spearheaded the initiative, and people like Mike Krzyzewski, Patrick Ewing, Anthony Grant, Rick Barnes, Tom Izzo, Bob Huggins, Cuonzo Martin, Mike Boynton, Tony Bennett, Herm Edwards and Mick Cronin.
The point of an ambassador is to promote and be the point of funding for the program and help mentor minorities on their campuses who work in their athletic department.
“That group has continued to grow over the years, but now we’re losing minority head coaches. We don’t have as many guys getting opportunities for the number of guys who are quality candidates out there. Part of the reason is we don’t have minority administrators. Head coaches don’t hire head coaches. Administrators hire head coaches; campus leadership hires head coaches,” Martin said.
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“I’m fortunate I work for leadership that gave me an opportunity. We have to figure out a way to get more minorities into administrative roles where they’re decision makers on campus… We have to figure out a way to get more qualified minorities into the opportunities they deserve.”
Martin said the goal in the first year is to help put 55 to 60 minorities “jump start” their careers while instilling values like integrity, education, leadership and mentorship.
The process will include in-depth resume analysis, phone interviews with top minority candidates with the hopes of them getting jobs and moving up the ladder at athletic departments to become decision makers on campus and in their communities.
“Now those folks are going to be put in front of athletic directors to show the work they can do and around assistant athletic directors who will become athletic directors to show they can do so they can improve the value of the athletic department,” Martin said. “It’s like everything else. When you get a job, the more value you bring the better your job becomes. It’s giving those guys an opportunities to impact our athletic departments and open doors for themselves and many more who look like them.”
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John McLendon, the foundation and initiative’s namesake, was one of the “pioneers of black coaches and administrators in the history of college sports,” Martin said, as the first black head coach at a predominantly white school and first black head coach of a professional sports team.
The foundation was started in 1999 and designed to award eight postgraduate scholarships annually to minorities planning on going to graduate school to go into athletics administration.
For Martin, who was the first member of his family to go to college, he wanted to be involved with something that helps people continue their secondary education.
“I want to get involved and help as many people as possible to understand and move forward,” he said. “I think getting into college is the greatest door that can be opened to any young person in the world because of the doors that opened up because of it. Former athletes, we always try to get them into coaching. Let’s get some of them into administration.”
