It's that time of year again. As football programs wrap up their seasons, the coaching carousel begins.

The University of Miami lost three games this year if you count their 40-3 Peach Bowl drubbing to a tough LSU team. In the past five years, Miami has lost a total of 9 games. That's unacceptable by Miami standards, and head coach Larry Coker fired four of his assistants, one of which had been there for all five of Miami's National Championship teams. I guess when it comes to Larry Coker, the buck doesn't stop there. Only time will tell if the blame really lies with Coker's assistants.

Meanwhile in the NFL, five head coaches were fired on what the media calls "Black Monday".

Four coaches were let go on "Black Monday," the day after the regular season ends and the traditional day for firing coaches. Martz, Capers, Mike Sherman of Green Bay and Jim Haslett of New Orleans were canned.

Mike Tice of Minnesota didn't quite make it to "Black Monday". He was fired Sunday night.

And speaking of hiring and firing football coaches, USA Today trots out the annual complaint that there aren't enough black coaches. They won't say what number is the right number, but they claim the NCAA is grossly under-represented.

College football's record is the product of the subtle biases and outright racism that permeate the hiring process While it is difficult to point to a single university decision and argue that racist attitudes were pivotal, it is impossible to look at the aggregate numbers and conclude they were not.

I'll admit that 5 out of 119 coaches seems like a low number. But to chalk it up to outright racism in the hiring process seems a little oversimplified. As if 114 collegiate Atheletic Directors attend an annual klan rally to discuss not hiring black coaches. And it's hard to believe that anyone in athletics would think that blacks are genetically inferior to whites.

Then there's this stunning admission:

Half of all college players are black. Many enter the coaching ranks, but few are given the opportunity to lead. The tier below head coaches - offensive and defensive coordinators - had only 12 blacks in Division I-A when USA TODAY counted the numbers in 2002. No one has a current tally, which says something about indifference.

Indeed it does. If USA Today cares so little about the issue that they don't bother to repeat their census for four years, why write the editorial?

Maybe they should have asked the AOL's Black Voices, the "premiere site for African-American culture and community". Back in September, they put together a Top 10 List for Division 1-A black assistant coaches. Not only did they profile 10 black assistant coaches to watch, they gave another 14 honorable mentions. Even if they included all of the black assistant coaches in Division 1-A football, that would mean the 2005 total was at least 24. That's a 100% increase over USA Today's 2002 figure of 12.

But I have a feeling the actual number is much higher. USA Today says the 2002 count of 12 coaches is Offensive and Defensive Coordinators. Black Voices list includes Assistant and Associate Head Coaches as well.

Not counted on either list are the position coaches (ie: Quarterbacks Coach, Wide Receivers Coach, etc.)