The season is only a few days old, and there already are a number of job openings for NFL coaches. So far, Norv Turner (Oakland Raiders), Mike Tice (Minnesota Vikings), Dom Capers (Houston Texans), Mike Sherman (Green Bay Packers), Mike Martz (St. Louis Rams) and Jim Haslett (New Orleans Saints) have lost their jobs.

This doesn’t include Dick Vermeil, who retired as the Kansas City Chiefs’ coach and Steve Mariucci, who was let go by the Detroit Lions in November. One of the eight openings went to Philadelphia assistant Brad Childress, who was hired by Minnesota.

With one fourth of the league and possibly more looking for new coaches, it will be interesting to see if any black coaches will be hired to fill these openings. Especially now that black coaches have clearly made a major impact in the NFL.

The league’s top coaches have been the Colts' Tony Dungy, the Bengals' Marvin Lewis and the Bears' Lovie Smith. All three have guided their teams to the NFL playoffs.

When coach of the year honors come out shortly, there’s a good chance Smith will be chosen in the NFC and Dungy will be named in the AFC, with Lewis a close second. Moreover, it’s an outside possibility that two of these coaches could wind up in the Super Bowl. Now, that would be really something — two black coaches in the NFL’s biggest game.

You talk about history-making. You talk about Black History Month. That would be as big as Doug Williams leading the Washington Redskins over the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XXII. Williams made a huge impact to the legacy of black quarterbacks.

Dungy, Lewis and Smith are in a similar position. Of course, we’ll have to wait and see on that. There’s still a lot of football to be played in the postseason. Nevertheless, it’s nice to see them excel on the sidelines. For years, blacks have been relegated to playing field and totally ignored when it came to being head coaches. But this time their success will be hard to ignore by the owners and general managers. 

NFL coaching carousel Parcells staying in Dallas 2 more years Eagles aide Childress hired by Vikings Jets give Chiefs OK to hire Edwards Celizic: K.C. blew it by losing Herm Commentary: Who'd want Raiders' job? Ventre: Some jobs need warning labels Opinion: Time right for more black coaches Saints to interview Jets' defensive chief Celizic: Sherman's exit means Favre gone Vote: Which opening is most desirable?

Just as it did for quarterbacks for many years, the wheels of progress in the coaching profession have grinded very slowly for blacks. The NFL has only had a handful of black head coaches over the years, with Art Shell leading the way when the Los Angeles Raiders hired him in 1989.

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