Air Force coach Fisher DeBerry, expressing frustration Tuesday with the Falcons’ slumping performance, attributed the latest loss in part to No. 20 TCU’s having more black players who “can run very, very well.”
DeBerry (above), in his 22nd year at the Air Force Academy, first mentioned the academy’s lack of minority players compared to other schools while talking to reporters Monday.
He said Air Force needed to recruit faster players. “We were looking at things, like you don’t see many minority athletes in our program,” DeBerry told The Gazette of Colorado Springs.
When questioned about the remarks during his weekly luncheon Tuesday, the coach didn’t hesitate to elaborate.
“It just seems to be that way, that Afro-American kids can run very, very well. That doesn’t mean that Caucasian kids and other descents can’t run, but it’s very obvious to me they run extremely well,” DeBerry said in remarks first broadcast Tuesday night by KWGN-TV in Denver.
I don’t have much to add except that when and if DeBerry is terminated, perhaps Paul Hornung won’t be the first guy interviewed.