There’s a poster on the bookshelf in Maryland president Dr. Darryll Pines’s office. Two words superimposed over a picture of Pines, football coach Mike Locksley and athletic director Damon Evans make its message clear: Representation matters. It’s an easy thing to say for those in college athletics as people become broadly aware of the need for diversity, equity and inclusion in hiring practices, especially in leadership positions. But it’s an entirely different undertaking to embody that ethos and do the actual heavy lifting of diversifying the workplace.
“Representation” can be reduced to buzzword status as many leadership roles in the college sports industry remain lily-white. But it’s clear that at least at the top of the leadership pyramid and the most front-facing sport on campus, the Terps are living it.
Not only are Pines, Evans, and Locksley each Black, but the main three assistants on Locksley’s coaching staff are, too (offensive coordinator Josh Gattis, defensive coordinator Brian Williams and head strength coach Ryan Davis). They were the first and only Power 5 school to achieve that distinction. Research conducted by ESPN in 2019 found that over half of P5 programs have never hired a Black head coach, and nearly 70% hadn’t hired a Black athletic director. (36% haven’t hired either.)
