It’s not that often you get to witness history twice in person in less than a decade.
For only the second time in MIAC football history last Friday, two Black head coaches faced each other. In fact, KiJuan Ware and Chip Taylor ran it back again after first meeting in 2021 when the former was Macalester interim head coach, and the latter was then and is now the conference’s longest tenured Black HC. The MSR attended both head-to-head matchups.
The two longtime friends and coaching compatriots closed their respective 2025 season at Augsburg under the unseasonably warm Friday night lights. We were there four years ago, and once again we witnessed history.
“That’s why it’s still a big deal to celebrate this,” said MIAC Associate Commissioner BJ Pickard to the MSR before the contest. “While it’s not the first time that two MIAC football teams led by Black head coaches have played against each other, it is the first time in four years that it’s happened.
“The fact that it’s still newsworthy shows that there’s still work to be done,” Pickard pointed out.
Sadly, no other local media saw last Friday’s game as newsworthy, as nothing was said in terms of game previews, and certainly nothing but the score afterwards.
Augsburg Athletic Director Amy Cooper told us during the game, “Two Black coaches playing each other in the MIAC I don’t think a lot of people would have thought they would see.”
Cooper herself made history this past spring when the school hired her as their first Black AD, and her first coaching hire was bringing back Ware, who was AU defensive backs coach and recruiting coordinator (2022-23), and naming him the school’s first Black head football coach.
Taylor was Hamline defensive coordinator (2013-15) before he was elevated to HC in 2016.
“Two Black coaches playing each other in the MIAC I don’t think a lot of people would have thought they would see.”
“I think most of us want to live in a world,” said Pickard, “where the first things we talk about when we talk Chip or KiJuan is how great they are as leaders, how much they care about their athletes, and how much better the MIAC has become because they’ve been a part of it.”
The final score was Augsburg 43, Hamline 3. The regular season winner of the annual trophy game between the two schools keeps “The Hammer” in their trophy case until they play again. The Auggies earned the spoils that night.
But our diversity scoreboard says both Black coaches succeeded. “It just tells you how far we’ve come,” said Taylor afterwards.
“Obviously in the ‘50s and ‘60s there weren’t a lot of African American coaches, and now we’ve got these opportunities.”
“This is a fellowship,” Ware stressed. “We had a chance to scrimmage with them and build with them during the summer. We know each other … We talk all year.”
This reporter unabashedly rooted all season long for both Ware and Taylor, including attending a couple of their games this fall. Augsburg finished its year 4-6, 4-5 in the MIAC; Hamline’s final record is 1-9, 0-9 in conference.
“We are trying to build something here,” stressed Ware.
“Obviously our kids didn’t perform the way we wanted to,” bemoaned Taylor.
Cooper said, “For us to be able to play under the lights tonight against Hamline [was] a perfect end to a season.”
“Representation matters,” concluded Pickard, “and that’s what makes this such a significant moment.”
History of another sort, another sport
Alicia Wood, the second-year St. Olaf head volleyball coach, last week was named the MIAC Volleyball Coach of the Year. Wood is the first woman of color to receive this award.
St. Olaf finished their first unbeaten MIAC regular season since 1996 and was top seed in this year’s playoffs. However, they lost to St. Benedict 3-2 in last Saturday’s league title match. At press time, the Oles were in contention for an at-large berth in the 64-team NCAA Division III tournament on Monday.
Finally …
League One Volleyball (LOVB) will have a team in Minnesota beginning in January 2027. Now in its second season, LOVB has teams in Atlanta, Houston, Austin, Madison, Wisc., Nebraska, and Salt Lake. Los Angeles will join Minnesota in the league in 2027.
Charles Hallman welcomes reader comments to challman@spokesman-recorder.com.