The Anti-Intellectual Coach: The Cultural Politics of College Football Coaching from the New Left to the Present

Abstract

College football coaches often position themselves as defenders of American values. As popular figures with influence, coaches are able to shape public views about a variety of political and social issues. Coaches can also alter the ways fans perceive athletes, many who are racial and ethnic minorities, and understand the inner workings of the sports world. Relying on the popular press, this article explores the rhetoric of big-time white college football coaches and documents instances where they weigh in on social and cultural issues, such as the New Left and Title IX, to gain a fuller appreciation of the political and intellectual role coaches played during the culture wars. It argues that coaches became key conservative voices that adopted an anti-intellectual tone as college football emerged as a front in America’s polarized culture wars.