"Some of those kids that might have come through their high schools and elementary schools and never had a Black teacher. But, like I said, representation matters," Taylor said. "I don't care what color my players are, white, Black, I'm going to mentor them the same. I just have been blessed with this opportunity."īoth coaches said that part of the responsibility of taking over as head coach was to show their players what Black leadership and education looked like. "I was trying to find the right path, the right way, and check all the boxes, as you would say, so they couldn't say I couldn't do this position. "I knew what I was getting myself into," he said. Ware wrote his master's thesis on mobility patterns in college football - understanding how and why coaches move through the ranks - so he understood the challenges he would face in trying to become a Black head coach. "I coached at every single level, and to have an opportunity to lead a program is an unbelievable task and it's a huge deal." "I'm an inner-city kid from the city of Hartford, Connecticut, with aspirations of being a collegiate football coach," he said. So now I'm in front of teams, addressing teams, and they've never experienced this before.” KiJuan Wareįor Ware, who became interim head coach at Macalester in June, his journey to this position was born of an endless determination to achieve a dream. “Some of those kids that might have come through their high schools and elementary schools and never had a Black teacher. Those are unique people in positions that when guys like myself or coach Ware are qualified for a job, then we can get those opportunities." We have a Black female president and I have a Hispanic AD. And to take it a step further, you have to have people in position to hire you," Taylor said. Taylor took over as head coach of Hamline in 2016 and said diverse representation in the university's leadership could not be ignored when it came to getting hired. "But maybe 10, 15 years, you go, 'Wow that was a big deal.' " "It will be something that I won't think about it on Saturday night," Taylor said.
It draws attention to two career coaches who never want the focus on themselves. When Hamline head football coach Chip Taylor takes the sideline across from Macalester interim head coach KiJuan Ware, it will mark the first time in the over 100-year history of the MIAC that two Black head coaches have faced each other, in any sport. Paul that short distance will bridge a historic gap for collegiate athletics in Minnesota. from Hamline to Macalester, but on Saturday night in St. It's just a two-mile journey down Snelling Ave.
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