 Pollard became the first (and until 1989, only) black coach in 1921; during the early-to-mid-1920s, the league used player-coaches and did not have separate coaching staffs.After , all five of the black players that were still in the subsequent National Football League left the league.Several teams were kicked out of the league that year, and with a large number of available, talented white players, black players were generally the first to be removed, never to return again.