Despite diversity efforts, professional soccer has very few Black head coaches

As the United Soccer League expansion team Rhode Island F.C. plays its first-ever professional match on March 16, it will have a unicorn on the sidelines. Former New England Revolution forward Khano Smith is the club's head coach — and the league's only Black head coach among 24 teams.

One tier above the USL, in Major League Soccer, the representation of Black leadership on the sidelines isn't much better. The MLS began its season with one Black head coach out of 29 teams.

Christopher Busey, a USL executive who oversees diversity across the league, told NBC10 Boston the current number of Black head coaches is "unacceptable."

Busey moved into his role one year ago. At present, the USL does not have a diversity hiring policy and very recently began gathering demographical information on the races of players, coaches and executives. The league consists of players from at least 70 countries.

More than a quarter of MLS players are Black, and the league recently beefed up a diversity hiring policy, but its outcomes at the head coach level are no better than the USL's, where there is no such policy. Since 2021, the MLS policy requires that "the finalist pool for an open sporting position includes two or more non-white candidates, one of whom must be Black or African American, as part of a renewed effort to prioritize opportunities for Black candidates."

In the most recent offseason, 11 head coaching positions were open in the MLS. Not a single Black candidate was hired. Sola Winley, an MLS executive who spearheaded the policy, said the post-2023 season outcome was "very disappointing," and the league's commissioner shares his view.

He points to a built-in mechanism to update the policy — including strengthening it, if necessary — when an advisory group of players, coaches and executives recommends making it more effective.

MLS coaching demographical data:

While the New England Revolution was one of the teams to choose a new head coach not from an "underrepresented group," team officials strongly back the policy that ensures a diverse applicant pool.

Major League Soccer identifies "underrepresented groups" as "Black or African American, Hispanic/Latino(a), American Indian/Alaska Native, Asian, Hawaiian/Pacific Islanders, Canadian Indigenous, Canadian First Nations, Women, and members of the LGBTQ+ community."

"The Revolution absolutely support the intentions of the MLS diversity hiring policy and take the implementation of the policy seriously," said Adam Kilonsky, the Revs' director of communications.

Khano Smith, who is head coach and general manager in Rhode Island, believes pro soccer is on a good trajectory to fix underrepresentation.

"I'm involved in groups now with both leagues. They're certainly trying to provide more opportunities, for underrepresented groups," he said. "And that happens to be Black coaches, as well as female coaches and Latino coaches."

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