While Black athletes make up nearly half of all NCAA Division I football players, there are currently only 16 Black head coaches at NCAA Division I schools, representing just 12.3 percent of the head coaches at the 130 member institutions. A Black coach has never won the NCAA Division I college football championship.
Professor Mayo joined the faculty at CalTech in 1991 and for a time was the only African American on the university's faculty. From 2007 to 2010, he served as CalTech's vice provost for research.