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TAMPA, Fla. – Muffet McGraw, coach of Notre Dame, has participated in the Final Four stage nine times during her career. She answered hundreds of questions about her team, about her rivalry with Geno Auriemma of Connecticut on the state of women's basketball. But his Thursday press conference was different. He was passionate and personal.
Muffet McGraw has enough.
It is enough that the percentage of women coaching women's basketball teams is decreasing. Enough of the limited female representation in Congress. Enough to limit gender roles. Enough of the pay gap between men and women.
"Men run the world. Men have the power. Men make the decisions. It's still the man who is the strongest, "said McGraw, his voice rising in response to a question about saying in a recent ThinkProgress article that she would not hire another man for his coaching staff.
"When are these girls coming out, who are they trying to tell them that's not the way it should be?" Continued McGraw. "Where can we do better than in sport? All of the millions of girls who play sports across the country, we teach them great things about life skills, but would not it be great to teach them how women lead?
In 1972, when the Gender Fairness Act, known as Title IX, was enacted, women were coaches to more than 90 percent of college women's teams in two dozen sports. The percentage has decreased to around 40 now. The numbers are slightly better for women's basketball, the most visible university sport for women; last year, about 59% of women's college basketball teams were coached by women, up from 79% in 1977.
Although the question is not new, it has been particularly important on the biggest stage of the sport this week. Tennessee has not competed in the Final Four since 2008, but the coaching vacancy in the program has been the subject of much discussion.
Pat Summitt has been training Tennessee for decades, transforming the program into lasting power and making a name for itself in the sport. Holly Warlick, Summitt's long-time assistant, succeeded the summit in 2012 due to early dementia. Warlick was fired last week and Tennessee has been looking for the women's basketball coach for 45 years.
When Louisville coach Jeff Walz was named as a candidate, a lively debate about the consequences of this decision followed. Would Tennessee hire a man to run the house built by Pat? And should we know if the coach is a man or a woman, provided they are qualified?
McGraw said – loud and clear – that it was really important.
"When you look at men's basketball, 99% of the jobs go to men, why should not 100% or 99% of jobs in women's basketball go to women?" She said. "It may be because we only have 10% of the women Sports Directors in Division I. People are hiring people who look like them. That's the problem. "
McGraw's comments also touched on topics such as the failure of the Equal Rights Amendment and the representation of women in politics.
"I get tired of the novelty of the first female governor of this state, the first female African-American mayor of this city. When will this become the norm rather than the exception? ", She said, adding," We do not have enough female role models. We do not have enough visible women leaders. We do not have enough women in power.
Notre Dame, the reigning national champion, will meet UConn in a national semifinal on Friday night, the last chapter of an intense rivalry that has been playing on the court and in the media for over a decade. . The assistants of both teams are all women.
Conscious of McGraw's wish not to engage another man, Auriemma did not kick when he answered the call this week.
"I hope she will send a thank you to all the guys who were previously part of her staff who have earned her all those good players who have won a championship," he said.
The first recruiter for Auriemma for 34 seasons is assistant head coach Chris Dailey. While building teams that won 11 NACs. Dailey has seen many positions as head coach, but she has remained to maintain the success of the Huskies.
"Women can be empowered by many people, including men," Dailey said after McGraw's intervention on Thursday. "The opportunities for women are important and they are put forward, which is incredible. But I think you want good people in the game without excluding anyone. "
Auriemma has long been a champion of women in sport, but he does not agree with the idea of limiting opportunities for men.
"I approach the issue from a different point of view," he said Thursday. "I just like to think that there is probably a way to do one without the expense of another."
He pointed out Oregon coach Kelly Graves, the other Final Four coach this weekend. "So they were not trying to advance women's basketball or women by hiring Kelly? It was a bad move? They should have just found the best woman available?
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