Singleton conquered racial hostility in '75

As racial tensions roiled the city during the busing crisis in 1975, Boston State College made a bold decision. School officials named an African-American, MacDaniel Singleton, their head football coach, breaking a color barrier in the modern era of New England college football.

The move proved visionary, as Singleton united a diverse band of players from the city's toughest corners, led them to a conference title, and taught them enduring lessons about racial harmony.

``At a time when there was a big barrier between black and white in Boston, we loved each other like brothers and it was because of Mac," said Bill Joyce, who is white and a probation officer at West Roxbury District Court. ``He was like a father to us. We loved the guy."

When an African-American threatened Joyce with a knife during an altercation at school, Earl Garrett, a black assistant coach who had starred for Boston State the previous year, thrust himself in front of Joyce, prompting the assailant to retreat.

``There was no place for racial differences on our team," said Garrett, who teaches and coaches at West Roxbury High School. ``Mac just wouldn't accept it."

For Singleton, 64, a former multi-sport star at Malden High School who now serves as a minor league hitting coach for the Los Angeles Dodgers, it was business as usual.

``I was just a coach," he said. ``I didn't see color. I never have. To me, people are people."

Though no official records are kept, Singleton was believed to be the first African-American to head a college football team in New England since 1904, when Matthew Bullock coached at Massachusetts Agriculture College, now the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Boston State College merged with University of Massachusetts Boston in 1982.

Since Singleton's appointment, only three African-Americans have served as head coaches at New England colleges: Floyd Keith at Rhode Island from 1993-99, Mark Garrett at Assumption from 1996-97, and Mel Mills, who took over at Becker this year.

Becker College president Ken Zirkle called the meager number of minority head coaches unacceptable.

``I can't explain why it has happened," Zirkle said, ``but in our society some things are a little strange, and this has been one of them."

Singleton coached three seasons at Boston State before he served 16 years as an assistant to former Harvard football coach Joe Restic. He spent one season as an assistant for the Buffalo Bills and later served as an assistant for three colleges (Lafayette, American International, and Plymouth State) and three professional franchises (the Tampa Bay Storm and Connecticut Coyotes of the Arena Football League, and the Scottish Claymores of NFL Europe).

Singleton also served as head coach of the MIT baseball team and an assistant coach of the Harvard baseball team. But he never landed another head coaching job in football, despite applying to several schools, including Stonehill.

He said the small number of black head coaches illustrates a systemic failure by NCAA football programs to diversify. But he never took personally his inability to land another head coaching job.

``To this day, I don't look at it that I didn't make it because I'm black," Singleton said. ``I don't blame anybody for anything. I just give 100 percent and let things fall where they may."

One of Singleton's greatest legacies remains his performance at Boston State, where he added the part-time head coaching job to his full-time role as intramural director. He said he inherited a roster of ``tough street kids," and he conquered the racial hostilities of the time by persuading white players from Charlestown and South Boston, for example, to bond with black teammates from Roxbury and Dorchester for a common purpose.

Jim Kent, who is white and grew up in Charlestown, played at Boston State and coached under Singleton.

``He was captivating," said Kent, who later served as head coach at UMass-Boston before the school disbanded its football program in 1997. ``The kids would do anything for him."

Singleton also did plenty for his players, including spending half his $4,000 annual salary to send them to summer football camp and paying for six of them to travel to North Carolina for a regional tryout for the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League.

More than 30 years later, many of Singleton's players serve in law enforcement. Some are teachers, others tradesmen. One is in prison, and a couple entered lives of crime and suffered violent deaths. But Singleton maintains a place in many of their hearts. Several recalled how much they gained while overcoming the city's racial unrest.

``We thought, `Why can't everyone else be like us?' " Joyce recalled. ``The difference was, they didn't have a leader like Mac Singleton to show them everybody can get along."