On Jan. 4, 2007, when Nick Saban gave his introductory press conference as Alabama’s head football coach, he professed — as coaches often do — his desire to make his new job his last one. “My next stop, you know where Lake Burton is?” he asked. “It’s in north Georgia, right on the North Carolina […]
College football has lacked drama in recent years, at least in the national-championship picture. Clemson has won five straight titles in the ACC. Ohio State has won three straight in the Big Ten. Oklahoma is a five-time reigning champion in the Big 12. In the vaunted SEC, Alabama has won four of the past six […]
The NBA has earned a reputation as the most racially conscious and socially minded of the “Big Four” leagues. Going back decades, its biggest stars have been outspoken on issues of racial inequality, and league commissioner Adam Silver has been at the forefront of many of those conversations during his tenure. The league has consistently […]
Being a head coach in any professional sport is a good way to experience meager job security. But even relative to coaches in other sports, hockey’s bench bosses have it especially tough. According to research Peter Tanner conducted for FiveThirtyEight a few years ago, the average NHL coach stayed in his post for 2.4 seasons, […]
After a recent spate of hirings and firings, the NFL is in the midst of a coaching diversity crisis. Fewer than 10 percent of the NFL’s head coaches are black — even though about 60 percent of the league’s players are. Not one of the five new head coaches hired after the 2019 NFL regular […]