Although Fritz Pollard coached the Akron Pros in 1920, the NFL鈥檚 inaugural season, there was not another black head coach until Art Shell took the reins of the Oakland Raiders in 2006. The profession has seen another 13 African-Americans land full-time NFL head coaching jobs (not interim assignments) since then.
In 2007, Tony Dungy of the Colts and Lovie Smith of the Bears made history as the first black coaches in a Super Bowl. Currently, three blacks are head coaches: Minnesota鈥檚 Leslie Frazier, Pittsburgh鈥檚 Mike Tomlin, and Cincinnati鈥檚 Marvin Lewis.
