In 2002, the NFL adopted the "Rooney Rule," which required every team with a head coaching opening to interview at least one minority candidate. Five years later, both teams in the Super Bowl, Indianapolis (Tony Dungy) and Chicago (Lovie Smith), had African-Americans as head coaches.

College football officials are not expecting that kind of dramatic change now that the sport has introduced its version of the Rooney Rule.

"But we do know this," said Sylvester Croom, the head football coach at Mississippi State and one of eight minority head coaches among the 120 schools that play Division I-A football. "It has to help. It has to get better because it can't get worse."

NCAA president Myles Brand said the dismal minority hiring record in Division I-A football remains "one of my greatest concerns and greatest frustrations."

Brand, however, told the AJC that he is "very cautiously optimistic" about an initiative by the Division I-A Athletics Directors Association on the issue of minority hiring of head football coaches. In January, that body issued a two-page memo to its members outlining "Acceptable Standards" for schools searching for head football coaches. A copy of the memo, which was given to the AJC, contained this passage:

"Athletics directors interviewing candidates for head football coaching positions should include one or more minority candidates for that position, resulting in a formal interview opportunity."

It's the first time any group so directly involved in the process has put such a commitment to minority hiring in writing.

"It's a step in the right direction, but everybody knows we've got a long way to go on this issue," said Georgia Tech basketball coach Paul Hewitt, the president of the Black Coaches & Administrators. "It's a slow process, but at least this moves the ball forward."

Until now, the BCA has been carrying most of the water on this issue, handing out a yearly "report card" for schools that searched for head coaches. The report card grades efforts in a number of areas to determine if schools are attempting to include minorities in the search process. The most recent report card evaluated 23 Division I-A schools, handing out 9 "A's" and four "F's," including one failing grade to Alabama.

This move is another tool to keep schools' feet to the fire and raise public consciousness on the issue.

"To the extent that it keeps this issue on the front burner, we are for it," said Floyd Keith, the executive director of the BCA. "But I've learned to take a wait and see attitude."

NCAA has no authority

There are vast differences between this initiative and the Rooney Rule. The NFL has the ability to fine its teams if they don't comply. The NCAA does not have the authority to dictate what institutions can do when it comes to hiring and compensating coaches.

"The NCAA only has the authority that the membership gives us, and the membership has not given us that kind of authority — nor do I expect they will," Brand said. "That makes us dramatically different than the NFL."

But the hope is that with new standards in writing, there will be an increase in the number of minority candidates who get interviews.

"I tell young coaches that the hard part is getting into the room for the interview," Croom said. "But after that, you've got to sell yourself. Schools are going to hire the best man for the job. And they should. It's your job to prove that you're the best man."

Change comes slowly in this area. The recent memo was almost a year in the making. And the genesis for the effort was that historic Super Bowl.

"People kept asking myself, Myles Brand, and others why, if there could be two African-American coaches in the Super Bowl, why are there so few in college football?" said Dutch Baughman, the executive director of the Division I-A Athletics Directors Association. "And the standard answers were starting to leak oil. This has been a contentious issue for some time now."

But after a series of meetings last year that included Baughman, the NCAA, the BCA, some key Divison I-A athletics directors and the Fritz Pollard Alliance — a group named after the NFL's first black head coach that spearheaded the creation of the Rooney Rule — this initiative finally came to life.

"I have to be honest that early in the process I was discouraged. I really didn't see the commitment to change," said Keith Tribble of UCF, one of 12 African-American athletics directors in Division I-A. "But what we ended up with was a pleasant surprise. It looks like a process that everybody wants to buy into. The athletics directors have taken ownership of this issue. Now we have to see if it makes a difference."

ADs had a heads-up

The memo was not released until after the latest wave of coaching hires, but it still had an impact. That's because in December, Baughman called each of the athletics directors with openings to give them a heads up on what was coming. Many had taken part in the meetings leading to the creation of the memo.

"We had a big meeting in September of the athletics directors where we discussed this issue and put everything on the table," Baughman said. "I reminded them of the principles we talked about in that meeting."

Of the 18 schools that replaced head coaches in Division I-A after the 2007 season, 16 interviewed at least one minority candidate. There were two minority hires. Houston hired Oklahoma assistant Kevin Sumlin, an African-American. Navy promoted assistant head coach Ken Niumatalolo when Paul Johnson left for Georgia Tech. Niuamatalolo is believed to be the first college head coach of Polynesian descent.

Georgia Tech interviewed two minority candidates: Charlie Strong, the co-defensive coordinator at Florida, and Joker Phillips, the offensive coordinator at Kentucky. Since that interview, Kentucky announced that Phillips will become its head coach when current coach Rich Brooks retires.

Dan Radakovich, Georgia Tech's athletics director, said the new initiative was not the reason he interviewed Strong and Phillips.

"We interviewed those men because they are well respected and considered to be at the top of their profession," Radakovich said. "For our institution, it was the right thing to do."

Croom, who is the first African-American head football coach in the history of the SEC, said the next hurdle will be making sure schools are not granting "token" interviews just to satisfy the recommendation. This has been an issue raised about the Rooney Rule.

"When I speak to these young coaches, I tell them they have to make that assessment for themselves," Croom said. "If they think it's a token interview, they may not choose to go. Nobody wants to satisfy a quota.

"But I believe going through the process helps. When I interviewed at Alabama, I knew I wasn't going to get the job, but it got me ready for the next one at Mississippi State."

'Succession hires' a worry

There is also concern about "succession hires," the growing trend in which the next coach is identified before the previous coach has retired, as is the case at Florida State and Kentucky.

"There is a concern that these kind of hires will circumvent the hiring process and make it less open and less inclusive," Keith said. "We'll have to wait and see on that one."

Some conferences do the legwork so that schools will be ready to identify the top minority coaches. The SEC has a database that includes every minority head coach and assistant coach in Division I-A and Division I-AA. Every December, that information is distributed to SEC athletics directors and presidents and to the 10 other conference offices in Division I-A.

The six BCS conferences and the NCAA each hold an annual workshop for minority coaches that includes presentations from executive search firms and other coaches to school them on the interview process.

Since becoming the SEC commissioner in 2002, Mike Slive has been on his soapbox about this issue. He applauded the initiative of the Division I-A athletics directors.

"This has to be a point of emphasis in the SEC and intercollegiate athletics," Slive said.

The bottom line, said several officials, is this: In a sport where 54 percent of participants are African-American, having only 6.6 percent of its head coaching positions filled by minorities should be unacceptable to everybody.

"All I ever wanted was an opportunity," said Croom, who was the SEC Coach of the Year in 2007. "There are a lot of guys like me who just want a chance to prove what they can do. All we're saying is talk to these guys.

"You just might like what you hear."