When picking a battle, at least choose the right one: the job of an advocate is to have a clear and concise message--and the Black Coaches Association's is neither.(College Football)

This is the story of an organization, of noble and necessary ideals, of fighting for cause when cause doesn't always count. This is the story of the Black Coaches Association, a group with the right idea and the wrong execution.

In November, South Carolina landed the coup of the annual coaching carousel, convincing former Florida coach Steve Spurrier to return to college football and the SEC and coach against his beloved alma mater. For a brief moment, South Carolina's courtship of Spurrier actually overshadowed talk of the BCS.

Then Floyd Keith stepped in. The BCA's executive director, Keith called for all black athletes and assistant coaches to boycott South Carolina football. The Gamecocks didn't interview a black coach for the position, and the BCA was taking a stand.

How convenient: the biggest coaching hire of the season and a chance for the BCA to make a splash--no matter how nonsensical.

It's shameful there are only three black coaches--Karl Dorrell at UCLA, Sylvester Croom at Mississippi State and Tyrone Willingham at Washington--in Division I-A. It's just as pathetic for the BCA to call out South Carolina for hiring Spurrier when any other program would've done the same things to land one of best coaches in the history of the game.

Making the BCA's stand appear even more misguided is that several other coaching searches were more deserving of criticism.

Last week, New Mexico State's McKinley Boston, one of Division I-A's few black athletic directors, announced the Aggies had hired Hal Mumme to replace Tony Samuel, one of a handful of Division I-A black coaches. The Aggies also interviewed longtime Nebraska assistant Turner Gill, one of the top black assistant coaches in the country.