Why protests aren’t as common in college football

College programs have incentive to stay as quiet as possible, and logistics sometimes help them do it.

College football has mostly been off to the side of the public debate around NFL players protesting systemic racial injustice and police brutality during the national anthem.

But after President Donald Trump called NFL players who kneeled during the anthem “sons of bitches” in September 2017, many college coaches fielded questions about their views.

Here’s what some of the college coaches who were asked about Trump’s 2017 attacks, or the protests in general, have said.

Emphasis added throughout.

At first, Alabama’s Nick Saban didn’t say much.

You know, I'm just a football coach, and I don't keep up with all that stuff as much as maybe everybody else does, especially during the season, especially when we're playing games.

But to me, you know, some of the things that we do in our country, [when] I grew up, they were unifying events, and it's a little painful to see that those things are not so right now. But I also respect everyone's right not to be censored in terms of the way they express their beliefs.

So, you know, I'm just a coach. I don't have the answers to all the questions. I know that most good things come out of love and respect and compassion and unifying people. And most bad things come out of hate and dislike and deceit. Hopefully we could sort of focus on the above, not the below.

But he elaborated when he was asked about it again later in the week:

The one thing that’s a little disappointing to me is something that has always been a real unifying, something that created spirited in our country and was very unifying is no longer that way. That is a little bothersome to me. I don’t think that what these people are doing is in anyway, shape or form are meant to disrespect a veteran or somebody like yourself who has worked so hard, fought so hard and sacrificed so much for all of us to have the quality of life that we want to have.

But one of the things that you also fought for and made sacrifice for was that we all could have the freedom to have choice in terms of what we believe, what we did and what we said. This is not something — look, I respect people’s individual rights. I have my opinion in terms of what I would do and how I would do. I would not want to ever disrespect the symbols that represent the values of our country. But I also respect individual differences that other people have. I think they have the right to express those. Whether it’s our players or somebody else, whether I agree or disagree, I think they have the right to do that.

Texas A&M’s Jimbo Fisher, then at FSU, didn’t say much in 2017:

“I don't get caught up in that," Fisher said.

"If that was something we had to address, like I said, we've addressed that before. Each player has their own choice of things that they want to represent or stand for. That's the individual's choice. Whether you kneel or you don't kneel, that's your choice.

"Just know that, when you do those things, like I said, you can affect other things. It's not right or wrong. That's the thing about freedom. There's not a right answer to that. That's the greatness of living in our country.

"You have the freedom to express yourself how you want to express it. That doesn't mean you're a good guy, bad guy, indifferent guy. It just means what you believe in and what you stand for. I think that's one of the great things about our country."

Michigan’s Jim Harbaugh came out against Trump at the time:

"No, I don't agree with the president," Harbaugh said. "Listen, that's ridiculous. Check the Constitution."

Harbaugh is Kaepernick’s former coach. He at first criticized Kaepernick for kneeling during the anthem last year, but he publicly supports such demonstrations now.

Washington State’s Mike Leach said he didn’t understand what was being protested.

First of all, we’re in the locker room during the national anthem, together as a team. To me, it’s not very clear what’s even being protested. I’ve never heard a real clear articulation of what’s being protested or what’s objected to, so I don’t know exactly the issue. Me personally, I’m proud of this country, and I would stand for the national anthem and respect the flag. But with that said, I don’t know exactly what they’re objecting to and I’m anxious to hear what specifically it might be.

USF’s Charlie Strong: echoed points made by people on both sides:

You have to respect the American flag. You have to respect this country. We live in a great country and we have our individual rights, we have our freedom of speech and we can do and say as we please. Like I said, some people may not agree with it but I can sometimes sit there and listen to that and my mind goes to Puerto Rico and what’s happening there in that country and they’re talking about the number of days they’re not gonna have power. Let’s go help those people.

Look what happened, even in this state, look what happened in Texas and it’s all about we’re trying to help other people and sometimes there’s battles to fight but let’s take care of what’s happening around us instead of thinking that’s not an issue when it is an issue.

North Carolina’s Larry Fedora: said he’d stand for the anthem, personally:

“I haven’t talked about it with the team,” said Fedora, whose Tar Heels have lost three of their first four games after a 27-17 defeat against Duke on Saturday. “Here’s what I would say. And all I can do is give you my opinion on what I would do.

“What I would do is stand there proud. I think we have a great country. I think we’ve got a lot of problems in this country. I think we’ve had a lot of problems forever in this country. Everybody has a right, everybody has a right to protest whatever they want.

“That’s part of what this country is all about. They can choose to do it whenever they want to do it. Just understand there are consequences to everybody’s actions, no matter what they do, sometimes they’re good, sometimes they’re bad.”

NC State’s Dave Doeren: seemed glad to be working in college, not the NFL:

“I’m not in the NFL, so I don’t have to deal with that,” Doeren said.

Doeren explained Monday his family connections to the military make the Wolfpack’s annual appreciation game, which is Saturday against Syracuse, special for him.

“Your parents all talked about Vietnam when I grew up,” Doeren said. “My dad served, my father-in-law served twice. …

“We get to play football and we get to make decisions and pick professions, we get to vote for who we want and we get to say things that we want to say because we live in a place where people fight for us. We get to actually play football for them on Saturday. That’s a big deal. I think it’s really cool that we get to do that.”

Michigan State’s Mark Dantonio: in 2016, after some of his players raised fists:

“We're in college, our young people are in college. And I can promise you one thing – that when the flag is presented in some respect, I guess it becomes much more important now. It's not just, ‘Oh, by the way, here is the Star-Spangled Banner.’ I guess they have decisions that people have to make. And as long as it's done in a peaceful way, this is America. And that's what the flag stands for. It stands for that freedom to do what you need to do. And that's the beautiful thing about this country.”

Former Nebraska coach Mike Riley: in 2016, after some of his players kneeled:

“Michael [Rose-Ivey] approached me about it and wanted to talk to the team. And so we set a time [Saturday] morning — after one of our walk-throughs — so he could explain to the team. I didn't know anybody else was going to do it, but that's OK. This is obviously a choice they have made for personal reasons and that's the beautiful thing about the United States that they can do that.”

Some college players have joined Kaepernick in protesting before.

Some teams have taken the field prior to the anthem. On one Saturday last year, some Michigan and Michigan State players raised their fists. Nebraska’s Mohamed Barry, DaiShon Neal, and Rose-Ivey kneeled.

After Rose-Ivey took a knee, he faced epithets from his own team’s fans. A Nebraska regent emailed that he was “embarrassed” by the protest. Rose-Ivey:

As a young, black man, I cannot hide from these realities. As a child of the most high, I cannot hide from my responsibilities to be a voice for those who cannot speak loud enough to reach those that can help change the reality, or the voices that continue to be ignored or muted ... those who are continuously told that it is their fault that their problems exist, that only if they do better, then they will have better, that if you just pull up your pants etc., etc., you can fill in your own 'What if?' but it's not so simple. It's not so clear.

I can say that with confidence, because even though I have done better, even though I am a college graduate, even though I am blessed and fortunate to play college football at the highest level, and at one of the most prestigious schools in college football, even though I am a healthy being, and even though I am fully conscious, I have still endured racism. I was still referred to Facebook and Twitter as a clueless, confused n***er, by former high school classmates, friends, peers, and even Husker fans. Some believe DaiShon, Mohamed, and myself should be kicked off the team or suspended, while some say we deserve to be lynched or shot, just like the other black people that have died recently. Another believes that, since we didn't want to stand for the anthem, then we should be hung before the anthem for the next game.

These are actual statements we received from fans.

College football’s logistics make it less likely for protests to happen.

In addition to not often being on the field for the anthem, media’s access to the athletes is more restricted than in the NFL. College teams generally don’t have “open locker rooms,” where reporters can ask any question to any player in the room, and where any player can answer. NFL teams have them multiple times per week. Players can face immense pressure, just like NFL players, if they speak on politics.

College coaches often take pains not to offer political opinions, too. They’re tasked with recruiting players and schmoozing with donors of all backgrounds, who presumably have different political persuasions. Recall Saban claiming the day after the 2016 presidential election that he didn’t even know the election was that day.

But the structural challenges to protests don’t mean they’re not happening anywhere.