Those three coaches are Herman Edwards with the Jets, Tony Dungy with the Buccaneers, and Dennis Green with Minnesota. Oh, yeah, cancel that, there are currently only two African American coaches in the NFL. Dennis Green was fired after leading the Vikings to eight playoff appearances in 10 years.

Green averaged 9.7 wins per year. He won a total of 101 games, regular season and playoffs combined, in those 10 years. Even with that success, Green was still shown the door in Minnesota.

The crazy thing is that Herman Edwards may be the only African-American coach in the NFL next season. Tony Dungy is hanging on by a thread in Tampa Bay, especially with the rumors of Bill Parcells returning to the coaching world.

If Dungy and the Buccaneers lose in the first round of the playoffs at Philly next weekend, you can expect the Bucs to show Dungy the door and pursue Parcells.

It's bad enough that these coaches are being fired after having very successful campaigns, but to make matters worst is the fact that finding another job is an almost impossible task for them. Just ask Art Shell who finished (10-6) with Raiders before being shown the door after an early exit from the playoffs. Shell has not drawn any serious interest since being fired by the Raiders.

African-American coaches just aren't recycled the way other coaches are. Marty Schottenheimer's career in Cleveland and Kansas City was no better than Green's tenure in Minnesota. Neither won a Super Bowl or even played for one, yet Schottenheimer is coaching again.

Let's sit back and see how long it takes Green to get another head coaching gig, just ask Mr. Shell, it is not that easy for African-American coaches.

This offseason will bring at least five or six job openings. There are already openings in San Diego, Minnesota, and Carolina. Atlanta, Washington, and Indianapolis may join the list of teams looking for a new coach.

There are many, many defensive and offensive coordinators around the league that are deserving of a chance to become a head coach. Many of those coordinators are African-American. Paul Tagliabue should not have to step in and intervene in the hiring process, but history has shown that something needs to be done.

It's amazing. African-Americans can help their teams win titles year after year, but they just can't run a team. The NFL must address this issue, and soon. I will sit back like everyone else and watch the hiring process. It will be interesting to see if Green or Shell gets any interviews.

I'm betting they will get interviewed, but don't bet on them being hired, instead look for one of those retired coaches of non-color to be recycled and given another job. Some of these new coaches will come from the college ranks and that's an entirely new story all by itself.

Only five African-Americans coach division one football teams. It's like I said before, they (African-American) can play the game at the highest level, they just can't coach at the highest level, can they?

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