Black players are common on the college gridiron. But the same isn’t true for coaches wearing the headphones on the sidelines.

Only 13 of the 130 college Football Bowl Subdivision programs have Black head coaches. That’s 10 percent.

The total went from 14 to 13 in late November when Vanderbilt University handed Coach Derek Mason a pink slip. It’s also down from 15 two years ago, but a lofty increase from 1992 when there were no Black head coaches in the FBS.

None of the four FBS programs in Virginia have Black head coaches.

There are no Black head coaches in the powerful Southeastern Conference (SEC) or the Big 12 Conference. In the Pac-12 Conference, five of the 12 schools have Black head coaches.

According to the NCAA Race and Gender Demographics Database, the numbers don’t look much more encouraging among the coordinators, meaning those most positioned to snare head jobs.

Out of 65 Power 5 schools, Black coaches hold these positions: Five offensive coordinators, six co-offensive coordinators, seven defensive coordinators and eight co-defensive coordinators.

African-Americans are most hired as running back coaches, the data show. There are 49 running back coordinators among the 65 Power 5 schools but only eight Black passing game coordinators.

By contrast, about 54 percent of all FBS players are Black, including 61 percent in the SEC, accord- ing to the database.

Rice University is the lone FBS team with both Black of- fensive and defensive coordinators. They are Jerry Mack and Brian Smith, respectively, who work under Rice head Coach Mike Bloomgren.

There were no Black head coaches in the top level of NCAA football until Wichita State hired Willie Jefferies in 1979.

The all-time most successful FBS Black coach remains Stan- ford University’s David Shaw. Now in his 10th season directing The Cardinal, Coach Shaw is 88-36 overall, including 60-24 in The Pac-12. His record of 88 wins is the most by any Black head coach on the FBS level. His teams have been to three Rose Bowls, where they won two.

Coach Shaw had an advantage over many others. His father, Willie Shaw, coached seven different NFL teams and had two stints as an assistant with the Cardinal.