By Maroon Tiger Staff

On the 35th anniversary of Art Shell’s appointment as the first Black head coach of the modern football era, Raheem Morris will take the field on Thursday, Oct. 3, as the first permanent Black head coach of the Atlanta Falcons. A panel discussion on Wednesday evening, Oct. 2, hosted by the Morehouse College Journalism in Sports, Culture and Social Justice Department, will celebrate the progress and sacrifice that made this moment possible for the city and America’s game.

“Better Than They Found It” will discuss the many overlooked ways Black NFL head and assistant coaches have contributed to the growth in skills, strategy and popularity of the league since Pittsburgh hired Lowell Perry as the NFL’s first Black assistant coach in 1957. The discussion also will cover various ways people inside and outside of the NFL encouraged the league to increase diversity among its head coaches, to the point that now there are nine non-white head coaches, an all-time high. Six of those head coaches are Black.

This event is based on a documentary film being made by panelist Tarana Harris Mayes, a broadcast journalist whose father, Chick Harris, was an NFL assistant coach for 33 years. Journalism Department Chair Ron Thomas will narrate the event at Dansby Hall, Room 200. Light refreshments will be available at 5 p.m. and the event starts at 6.

Posted by Sports Editor, Rece Allen