Florida defensive coordinator Charlie Strong and Nevada defensive coordinator Nigel Burton this week were named head football coaches at Louisville and Portland State, respectively. The hires bring the number of ethnic minority head coaches at non-historically black institutions to 24.

Strong, who replaced Steve Kragthorpe, has been with Florida since 2003. He also coached at South Carolina, Notre Dame, Mississippi, Southern Illinois and Texas A&M. He holds degrees from Central Arkansas (where he was a student-athlete), Henderson State and Florida. He is the 11th black head coach in the Football Bowl Subdivision.

Other African-Americans recently hired at FBS schools include Mike London at Virginia, Larry Porter at Memphis and Willie Taggart at Western Kentucky.

Burton coordinated Nevada’s defense for the past two seasons. He also spent five seasons with Oregon State and was a coaching intern with the Denver Broncos. He played football at Pacific and Washington, appearing in three consecutive bowl games for the Huskies.

Burton is a 2009 participant in the NCAA Expert Coaches Football Academy, a program that addresses the shortage of ethnic minorities in football head coaching positions. The academy prepares coaches for many of the issues they will experience at the head-coaching level through program sessions and networking opportunities with current head coaches and athletics administrators. 

Minority football coaches at NCAA institutions
As of December 16; historically black colleges and universities excluded