John Thompson led Georgetown to the championship in 1984, the first of four Black coaches to win it all. Carolyn Peck and her Purdue women did it in 1999 and Dawn Staley of South Carolina joined her in 2017 with the first of her three titles.

The four head coaches remaining in this year’s College Football Playoff have a lot to gain by winning it all. Not just a national championship, and not just the bonus that comes with it. The other prize coming the winning head coach’s way is power and prestige at a time of upheaval in the sport and evolution within his profession.