There are only 3 Black NFL head coaches. Does that matter to players?

INDIANAPOLIS — Regarding coaching diversity in the NFL, we tend to hear from the same people.

How do Black coaches feel about the lack of opportunity? What can the majority white general managers and team presidents do to expand their candidate lists? How many more measures can commissioner Roger Goodell put in place to encourage white team owners to have faith in these Black men and women?

But what do Black football players think about the men they entrust with their careers? Black men outnumber all other racial groups on college football and NFL rosters, so does the race of their head coach matter to them?

At this week’s NFL combine, there was no consensus. During the most recent NFL head coach hiring cycle, a record-tying 10 positions were open, but Black coaches were not hired for any of them. Heading into the 2026 season, the 32-team league has only three Black head coaches (Todd Bowles, Tampa Bay Buccaneers; Aaron Glenn, New York Jets; DeMeco Ryans, Houston Texans).

Some draft prospects say it’s important to have coaches with similar backgrounds to them, both for their evolution as a player and as a person. Others say they can play for any coach and that race doesn’t matter as much to them.

“For me, it really doesn’t matter who’s coaching me, but I want a relationship with that coach regardless whether they’re Black, white, whatever they are,” said Iowa defensive back Xavier Nwankpa. “I just want a coach that’s going to coach me and try and get the best out of me every day.”

Many Black players don’t place an emphasis on the race of their coach for a variety of reasons. It doesn’t mean they don’t see color or that they believe the country has solved racism. Rather, most of them have worked their entire lives to make it to the NFL, and they want the coach who best optimizes their playing future — Black or otherwise.

“Any coach, really, is fine for me as long as they’re coaching me the right way,” said SMU tight end RJ Maryland. “They can be whoever. I just really want a good coach that’ll just develop me as a person.”

Ahmaad Moses, Maryland’s former teammate, feels similarly. The SMU defensive back said having a Black coach is important, but race doesn’t matter as long as that person can make him a better player and person.

“As long as they can get me to where I need to be, that’s the main thing I’m really worried about,” said Moses, who credits SMU cornerbacks coach Kyle Ward, who is Black, for developing him as a defender.

Also, having a Black coach might not matter as much to Black players because they’re so accustomed to playing for white coaches.

Texas has historically placed the most former high school players in the NFL, and in the state’s largest football division over 70% of head coaches were white in 2018. Black coaches accounted for 17%.

In California, another NFL prospect hotbed, there are similar statistics. For instance, five of 79 high school head coaches in Orange County were Black in 2020.

None of the players interviewed for this story played for a Black head coach while in college.

“I’ve had a stable of coaches. I’ve had white, I’ve had Hawaiian, I’ve had Blacks,” said North Carolina State tight end Justin Joly. “Being able to just be a glue guy and be able to just work with anybody is the best thing I think I’m good at. Obviously, having a Black coach would be fun, but honestly wherever I land [in the NFL] I’ll be happy.”

On the other hand, some Black players see the benefits of playing for someone who looks like them. They point out how shared backgrounds and experiences make coaches more relatable to them, or how diversity benefits everyone on the team.

Defensive back DeShon Singleton didn’t play for a Black head coach while at Nebraska from 2022-25. However, Cornhuskers secondary coach Addison Williams is Black.

“We have to relate to someone,” Singleton said. “A Black person knows what a Black person is going through.”

Through the years, Goodell has emphasized the importance of diversity in coaching and in front offices. “I think we’ve proven to ourselves that it does make the NFL better,” he said in 2025.

TCU tight end DJ Rogers said he sees that same benefit for the players.

“It’s always great to have different cultures, different races, different diversities in all forms of coaching because the game’s changing. It’s very dynamic,” Rogers said. “So just having to be able to bring different backgrounds, different experiences is only going to make the game better, because everyone has different experiences in life and how they’re able to get to that point. And that’s not only going to make you better as a player, but also a better man.”

For Kansas State defensive back VJ Payne, having a Black coach is something special and personal to him. One of Payne’s biggest influences was Bryant Appling, his coach at Buford (Ga.) High School.

Appling, who has coached at the school for 22 years, instilled in Payne many of the traits that not only made him a two-time All-Big 12 honorable mention performer, but also a more respectable man, Payne said.

“He gave me my maturity. He taught me how to carry myself with a demeanor to where I’m not just a lackadaisical guy,” Payne said. “I know how to speak properly [and] when I’m going up to somebody professional, give him a good handshake and stuff like that.

“So that really impacts somebody like me, and I love it — having that Black coach as my head coach.”

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