Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz, right, and offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz walk along the sideline during the first half of the Citrus Bowl against Kentucky on Jan. 1 in Orlando, Fla. A propensity to pass down the family business often stokes a passion to follow in Dad’s footsteps, but it has also helped perpetuate a lack of racial and ethnic diversity at the highest levels of football coaching. (AP file photo)

Being a major college football coach is as much a lifestyle as it is a career.

Long hours. Rare days off. It’s a job that can pull those who do it away from their families, so maybe it’s no surprise when coaches try to carve out space at work for their loved ones.

A propensity to follow in Dad’s footsteps is a common one across the sport, but it has also helped perpetuate a lack of racial and ethnic diversity at the highest levels of coaching in college football.

The Associated Press examined the coaching rosters of the 65 schools that compete in Power Five conferences and found 25 instances of family members on the same coaching staff.

Of those, 22 involved white coaches, including at Iowa where coach Kirk Ferentz’s son, Brian, is the offensive coordinator. It also includes Purdue, where coach Jeff Brohm has brothers as offensive coordinator and chief of staff.

“The industry of football that we’re part of is so different from corporate,” said Maryland coach Mike Locksley, who is Black. “It’s corporate, but it is very familial. It crosses the line. Usually when you work somewhere you go home and it’s done. This private life, work life is so intertwined in the game of football and even in it’s hiring practices when you see the number of nepotism hires and the affiliations. The family trees, per se.”

Nepotism is a significant factor in why Black coaches are under-represented in major college football, according to the National Coalition of Minority Football Coaches, which was founded by Locksley in 2020 to prepare and advocate for minority coaches at all levels of football.

“I don’t think anyone can debate that,” said attorney Raj Kudchadkar, the group’s executive director. “We can plow our resources into developing minority coaches, but if the top decision-makers are set on hiring family members all the training and advocacy in the world won’t get one of my members that position.”

According to the latest data compiled by the NCAA, 79% of head coaches at Power Five conference schools during the 2020 football season were white, 15% were Black and the rest were from other groups.