During his first season as an assistant football coach at Northeastern, 33-year old Jim Salgado applied to the NCAA’s first-ever Coaches Academy for minorities.

With so few minority head coaches in Division I-A football last fall – there were just five blacks and one Hispanic – the NCAA designed the program to help minority assistants learn the ‘non-football aspects’ of heading a program. The program stressed developing a budget, dealing with the media and working with a school administration among many other tasks.

The NCAA’s own Football Oversight Committee acknowledged the need for reform in minority coaching hires and the Coaches Academy was one of the first programs developed.

The program is designed to give minority coaches more experience so they can gain head coaching vacancies faster, Associate Director Kim Ford said.

Salgado heard of the program and submitted a resume and application. The NCAA selected him and 19 other assistant coaches with at least four years of experience for the first session in January 2004 in Orlando, Fla.

Just a year later, Greg Robinson hired Salgado as Syracuse’s cornerbacks coach.

‘It was an unbelievable experience,’ Salgado said of the NCAA Coaches Academy. ‘I was lucky enough to be selected to go the first time.’

After coaching 11 seasons at every level of college football except D I-A, Salgado knew he wanted to be a head coach one day. He first needed to get assistant coaching experience at the D-I level.

He got that opportunity when Robinson called him in January to gauge his interest about coming to Syracuse. Robinson wasn’t even SU’s head coach but merely a candidate. In preparation of getting the job, he began to assemble a hypothetical staff.

Robinson telephoned Salgado, who Robinson had known since the early 1990s when he was the defensive line coach for the New York Jets. Salgado played cornerback for Hofstra then, but the Jets hold summer training camp on Hofstra’s campus. The two met through mutual friends.

‘He kept an eye on me the last 10 years,’ Salgado said.

When Syracuse hired Robinson on Jan. 11, Salgado beamed with excitement. He came to Syracuse for a formal interview with little doubt he’d end up on the coaching staff. On Jan. 26, Robinson officially introduced Salgado as cornerbacks coach.

‘I would have coached anything,’ Salgado said. ‘It didn’t matter. I just wanted to get a chance to come, work for him and be a part of this tradition.’

Salgado is teaching Syracuse’s corners the new defense, in which players are more active and attack the ball. Salgado has either coached or played cornerback for 12 of the past 15 years so he knows the position well. His enthusiasm and energy have earned strong reviews from players.

‘He’s a pretty good coach,’ senior corner DeAndre LeCaille said. ‘He’s got a lot of good information.’

LeCaille said that Salgado works well in tandem with Syracuse’s secondary coach, Scott Spencer, who oversees the safeties. Salgado is laid back and wants to get work done while Spencer jokes more with the players. The two units meet together so if Salgado or Spencer misses mentioning an assignment, the other is sure to notice.

‘I like him a lot,’ senior corner Steve Gregory said. ‘He’s straightforward. All the coaches are high energy. That’s the approach that’s been coming to us.’

Salgado is eagerly taking note of every move Robinson is making in his first season because he hopes to one day run his own program. He gained a lot of experience to achieve that goal through the NCAA’s Coaches Academy.

On one of the three days, coaches broke into groups and role-played a crisis. A player was charged with a crime and coaches were assigned either the role of head coach, athletic director or sports information director. It helped the coaches see the various aspects of just one situation.

In another session, a mock news conference was held and coaches were videotaped. They were then analyzed based on not only their actual audible responses but facial expressions, too.

Salgado said the networking aspect of the program, though, was most beneficial. Former San Francisco 49ers head coach Bill Walsh, Baltimore Ravens head coach Brian Billick and University of Washington head coach Ty Willingham attended the Expert Coaches portion of the program.

‘I had a chance to meet and spend time with Coach Willingham,’ Salgado said. ‘To hear what those coaches went through to get where they are, for me to sit down at 32 years old, was just unbelievable. One time I’m sitting there with Bill Walsh and Brian Billick, and (Oklahoma head coach) Bob Stoops comes in.’

Ford said the initial program went well and a second program ran in January.

‘The feedback has been very positive,’ Ford said. ‘The football coaches have wanted this for a long time.’

Unfortunately for minority coaches like Salgado, the results won’t be immediate. Ford admits the success of the program will be determined by whether the administrative experience and networking actually helps minority coaches get more head coaching jobs.

‘The networking you get from that kind of stuff is unbelievable,’ Salgado said. ‘Some day, hopefully, I’ll get that same opportunity.’

Published on April 19, 2005 at 12:00 pm