During the 2024 season, the Big Ten featured five minority head football coaches. Two years later, only one remains.

Maryland head coach Mike Locksley said he is the lone Black head coach across both the Big Ten and the Southeastern Conference, the nation’s most powerful football leagues.

“I think it’s disappointing,” Locksley said after observing Ravens practice Friday.

The decline comes amid broader concerns about opportunities for minority coaches across football and growing questions about whether the NFL’s Rooney Rule is achieving its intended purpose.

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Originally designed to expand those opportunities, the Rooney Rule is an NFL policy established in 2003 that requires teams to interview diverse candidates — specifically people of color and women — for head coaching, coordinator and senior front-office positions.

Recent reporting by ESPN detailed frustrations among Black assistant coaches, who question if the Rooney Rule has become more of a procedural requirement than a meaningful pathway to these jobs.

The story centered on longtime assistant Patrick Graham, who recounted arriving for a post-interview dinner with Jacksonville Jaguars executives only to sit alone for nearly 30 minutes after team officials failed to show. Graham later learned the organization had been discussing a contract with eventual head coach Liam Coen at the same time.

This offseason, The Banner reported on former Ravens quarterbacks coach Tee Martin’s struggles to find another NFL job after coaching Lamar Jackson to a historic MVP season. He is now a senior offensive analyst at LSU.

For Locksley, experiences such as Graham’s underscore why he launched the National Coalition of Minority Football Coaches in 2020.

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“I think it’s disappointing … [as] the founder of an organization that tries to promote — not push but promote — that we have people like Graham or guys that are qualified to become head coaches at any level,” he said.

The organization offers training and educational programs for minority coaches seeking to advance their careers.

Each year, the nonprofit vets and highlights a list of qualified minority coaching candidates selected by its board of directors. The board includes former Ravens general manager and current executive vice president Ozzie Newsome, who was the first Black NFL general manager and is the namesake of the league’s annual general managers forum intended to prepare and educate diverse candidates for front-office roles.

As representation has declined at the highest levels, Locksley said, he remains committed to creating more opportunities.

“There is a lot of moving of the goalposts — two steps forward, one step backwards — in terms of the minorities that are leading programs,” he said. “But you know what? We just gotta keep pushing and keep showing that we have qualified guys that can do the job.”

The Ravens will host training camp practice Saturday at the home of the Maryland football program, SECU Stadium, where Locksley has led the Terrapins since 2019.