Marcus Freeman appears determined to make this not about himself, but when one is in the process of achieving something unprecedented, that’s even more difficult than conjuring a gameplan to defeat the 2024 Ohio State Buckeyes on the 20th day of 2025.
Two coaches beat the Bucks this season, but no Black head coach ever has led a team into a Division I Football Bowl Subdivision championship game of any sort, whether in the College Football Playoff or the BCS or one of those manufactured bowl championships from decades ago. No one else has come all that close.
Given we had a Black coach win an NBA championship in 1968 (Bill Russell), an NCAA Tournament in 1984 (John Thompson), a World Series in 1992 (Cito Gaston), a women’s NCAA Tournament in 1999 (Carolyn Peck), a WNBA title in 2001 (Michael Cooper), a Super Bowl in 2007 (Tony Dungy), MLS Cup in 2023 (Wilfried Nancy) and the NWSL Championship in 2024 (Seb Hines), college football appears to be running well behind. It’s impossible not to notice this, and irresponsible not to place it near the forefront of 2025 CFP title game discussions.
So of course Freeman has been asked about this on multiple occasions: in advance of the semifinal against Penn State and James Franklin, whose appearance assured…
