The first black head coach for the Steelers, is current coach Mike Tomlin. He has been the head coach for the Steelers since 2007.
There are several possible answers: College: There were black coaches as soon as the historically black colleges and universities started playing football. Clarence Matthews was the coach of Tuskegee University in 1893, he may have been the first. NFL: In the early days of the NFL, the job of coach was usually filled by a player on the team. And there were a handful of black NFL players between 1919 and 1933. Hall of Famer Fritz Pollard was a co-coach on the 1919 Akron Pros, and then coached the 1925 Hammond Pros. FBS College: The first black coach of a Division I-A school (now called FBS) was Willie Jeffries, who was named the head coach at Wichita State in 1979. Wichita State eliminated their football team in 1986. NFL Modern: The first modern black NFL coach was Art Shell, who was promoted to head coach of the Los Angeles Raiders on October 4, 1989.
That was Fritz Pollard who was head coach of the Akron Pros in 1921. As far as 'modern day' NFL goes, that would be Art Shell who became head coach of the Los Angeles Raiders in the 1989 season.
Tony Dungy
On February 4, 2007, Super Bowl XLI (41) was the first where both head coaches were black. Tony Dungy was the head coach of the Indianapolis Colts, and Lovie Smith was the head coach of the Chicago Bears. The Colts won the game 29-17 to make Tony Dungy the first black head coach to win an NFL Super Bowl.
The first head coach in the was Art Shell, but the first coach was Fritz Pollard.
The first black head coach for the Steelers, is current coach Mike Tomlin. He has been the head coach for the Steelers since 2007.
There are several possible answers: College: There were black coaches as soon as the historically black colleges and universities started playing football. Clarence Matthews was the coach of Tuskegee University in 1893, he may have been the first. NFL: In the early days of the NFL, the job of coach was usually filled by a player on the team. And there were a handful of black NFL players between 1919 and 1933. Hall of Famer Fritz Pollard was a co-coach on the 1919 Akron Pros, and then coached the 1925 Hammond Pros. FBS College: The first black coach of a Division I-A school (now called FBS) was Willie Jeffries, who was named the head coach at Wichita State in 1979. Wichita State eliminated their football team in 1986. NFL Modern: The first modern black NFL coach was Art Shell, who was promoted to head coach of the Los Angeles Raiders on October 4, 1989.
That was Fritz Pollard who was head coach of the Akron Pros in 1921. As far as 'modern day' NFL goes, that would be Art Shell who became head coach of the Los Angeles Raiders in the 1989 season.
Al Davis hired Al Shell, the first black head coach of the modern era, in 1988. He hired Tom Flores, the first Latino coach, and Amy Trask, the first woman CEO.
Art Shell was the head coach of the Oakland Raiders in 2006.
Art Shell became the first African American NFL head coach of the modern era when he was hired by the Los Angeles Raiders in 1989.
Tony Dungy
Doc Rivers (1999-2003)
Bill Russell
Tom Landry was first head coach for the Dallas Cowboys
Ty Willingham is the current head coach of Washington. Previously, he was head coach at Notre Dame (the first and only black head coach) and Stanford. Notre Dame fired Willingham after subpar seasons and has been a discussion of debate to this day.