College football is âÄúout of syncâÄù with the landscape and attitudes of America, Black Coaches and Administrators Executive director Floyd Keith said. The latest hiring report card, released Wednesday by Black Coaches and Administrators, indicated that more people of color are being interviewed for positions in Division I football, but the end result is the same. “The message in this report is that the process is being followed, but the poor hiring results continue,” Keith said during a teleconference. Keith said the hiring report card, in its fifth year , has made search processes in college football more transparent and accountable âÄúto some degree.âÄù “It is easier to become a head football coach in the NFL , a head basketball coach in the NCAA , a general or commissioned officer in the United States Army than it is to become a football coach within [Division I] ,âÄù Keith said. âÄúThat, America, is just not right.âÄù Joel Maturi, athletics director at the University of Minnesota said he worked with Keith and the Black Coaches and Administrators during the UniversityâÄôs football and menâÄôs basketball hiring process. âÄúThe athletics administrators I know work hard at finding the best coach for their institution,âÄù Maturi said. Maturi interviewed more than one black coach for the football position and one of them was a âÄúfinalistâÄù but in the end, he chose Tim Brewster . Maturi said he did the same for basketball, and that hire was Tubby Smith . âÄúI ended up hiring the person I thought was the best fit for Minnesota,âÄù Maturi said. Charlotte Westerhaus, NCAA vice president of diversity and inclusion said the NCAA will not institute a mandate similar to the NFLâÄôs âÄúRooney RuleâÄù, which requires each team to interview at least one minority candidate for a vacant head coaching job. “The NCAA does not hire coaches. The athletic directors are responsible for hiring and thus responsible for the hiring process and results,” Westerhaus said. Of the 31 head coaching vacancies for the 2007-2008 seasons, four people of color were hired , according to the report card. “The talent is out there, ready, willing and able to head a college football team,” Westerhaus said. “But interviewing is not hiring. The true measure is when [athletics directors] actually hire head football coaches of color.” The firing of the University of WashingtonâÄôs Ty Willingham and resignation of Kansas StateâÄôs Ron Prince left only four black, one Latino and one Pacific Islander as head coaches in the Football Bowl Subdivision this year. The UniversityâÄôs associate athletics director Leo Lewis said Maturi has put forth initiatives to increase awareness of diversity in athletics. Part of the strategy is focusing on the hiring process, Lewis said. âÄúWe always want to choose the best candidate thatâÄôs out there,âÄù Lewis said. âÄúBut we want to make the positions available to a broader base of applicants.âÄù Seven coaches on the UniversityâÄôs football coaching staff are black. Another study released last week by the Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport examined diversity among more than just coaches. âÄúThe Buck Stops Here: Assessing Diversity among Campus and Conference Leaders for Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) Schools in the 2008-09 Academic Year,âÄù looked at university presidents, athletics directors, faculty and assistant coaches among others for all 120 Football Bowl Subdivision institutions, including the University. Richard Lapchick, author of the study and director of the Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport, said the leadership and power in college athletics remains âÄúoverwhelmingly white.âÄù âÄúOverall, the numbers simply do not reflect the diversity of our student-athletes,âÄù Lapchick said in the report. âÄúMoreover, they do not reflect the diversity of our nation where we have elected an African American as President for the first time.âÄù