Some of those waiting for a chance to lead are asking why.

"I have the right background," said Michigan assistant coach Fred Jackson. "I know I can coach the game. I'll keep trying until, maybe, something happens, because I'm somebody who wants to do this."

Jackson, 50, has been a big-college football coach for 22 years, including the last nine seasons at Michigan. He is an acclaimed recruiter and has had his current position since the Wolverines' co-national championship season in 1997.

In 2000, Jackson was a finalist for the Broyles Award given to the nation's top assistant coach. He also is one of a growing number of frustrated blacks working to become Division I-A head coaches.

Jackson said he has pursued five head coaching jobs, including the recent Virginia opening for which he interviewed last month.

Michigan State's Bobby Williams, Stanford's Tyrone Willingham, San Jose State's Fitz Hill, New Mexico State's Tony Samuel and Louisiana-Lafayette's Jerry Baldwin are the only blacks among Division I-A's 115 head coaches.

With blacks making up 50.5 percent of all Division I-A football players, that bothers Jackson and others like him.

"What's the deal?" he asked. "More than half the players are black. For some reason, you can play it, but you can't coach it. That ticks you off. You just assume that you have not been the person that they need. ... You, in your heart, know some of the reasons why, but you can't let your heart prevent you from trying to go after your goal."

The first black Division I head coach was Willie Jeffries at Wichita State in 1979.

Of the 1,870 Division I-A assistant coaches, 381 are black, according to the NCAA.

The figures are similar for other college sports. Northeastern University's Center for the Study of Sport in Society found in 1998 that 5.8 percent of the NCAA Division I men's head coaching positions were held by blacks. The figures exclude historically black schools.

Bob Minnix, a Florida State associate athletic director and president of the Black Coaches Association, is intent on giving minority coaches a chance.

The 13-year-old association has a database containing more than 300 names of coaches with college-football coaching qualifications, available to anyone. The NCAA also announced it will open a minority job bank on the Internet this year to assist schools looking for coaches and athletic administrators.

Minnix's organization plans to initiate a minority-hiring report card this year to survey schools' practices.

"Being mad is not going to solve it," Minnix told The Detroit News for a story Sunday. "I'm not here to say you should automatically hire a minority coach. I've got to be more than just a shouter. I want programs to make black coaches part of the process, and give them an opportunity to interview. That is not happening now."

Billy Harris, 52, is defensive coordinator at Eastern Michigan. He had the same job at Stanford and also coached at Michigan.

Harris said he has soured on finding a head coaching position after attempts in the mid-1990s for Ohio and Akron jobs proved futile.

"I applied for (those) jobs and got, 'Return to sender,"' Harris said. "I couldn't get an interview. I had Bo (Schembechler) call, I had Mo (Gary Moeller) call, and I didn't even get a return call," he said, referring to two former Wolverines head coaches.

"After that, I decided I wanted to find a coordinator's job and ride it out," Harris said.

Williams, 42, spent 10 years at Michigan State as an assistant when he was named to replace Nick Saban as head coach at the end of 1999. It was a popular move among the players and assistant coaches.

"I feel like I'm carrying the banner for a lot of coaches," he said at the time.

Michigan athletic director Bill Martin acknowledged that diversity at the top level of coaching is a major concern. Michigan head football coach Lloyd Carr has three black coaches on his staff.

"All of us have to be sensitive about it," Martin said. It's clearly an issue. I am concerned about diversity within our department overall."