NFL ramps up hiring of female coaches
Times are changing around NFL. It’s been three-quarters of a century since the league had its first female owner — the Cardinals’ Violet Bidwill Wolfner — and 25 years since Amy Trask became the first female CEO of a franchise. Since then there have been another dozen female owners and in 2015, Sarah Thomas became the first full-time NFL official — she worked the Super Bowl in 2021.
Finally, women are making their way to the sidelines.
The 2022 NFL season set a precedent never achieved in terms of women in coaching positions with 15 female coaches, an increase of 25% compared to the previous campaign.
In Sunday’s Super Bowl 57 at State Farm Stadium, Philadelphia Eagles sports conditioning coach Autumn Lockwood will become the first Black woman to coach in a Super Bowl.
Lockwood, who played soccer at the University of Arizona, will be the fourth woman to coach in a Super Bowl. Katie Sowers became the first when the San Francisco 49ers reached Super Bowl LIV. Lori Locust and Maral Javadifar of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were the first two on a Super Bowl-winning team.
The Kansas City Chiefs have a woman on their training staff, who was singled out on social media by quarterback Patrick Mahomes after the team won the AFC championship. He credited Julie Frymeyer, who designed and executed his rehab from an ankle injury, for his ability to play in the game. She also helped him rehab from a toe injury two seasons ago.
Those women followed in the footsteps of Karthryn Smith, who became the first full-time female NFL coach with the Bills in 2016.
This season, the NFL employed three female game officials: Maia Chaka, Robin DeLorenzo and Thomas.
At the top of the pyramid, women are listed as the sole owner or co-owner for 11 of the NFL’s 31 franchises that are privately owned (the Green Bay Packers are a public corporation). It all dates back to 1947, when upon the death of Charles W. Bidwill ownership of the then-Chicago Cardinals passed to his wife, Violet.
The first principal owner of a pro sports franchise, Violet Bidwill ran the Cardinals until her death in 1962. She was the team owner the last time the Cardinals won an NFL championship.
The Cardinals also recorded an NFL first in 2015 when they hired Jen Welter as a coaching intern during training camp to assist with the linebackers, making her the first woman to coach an NFL team.
In a report card released from The
Institution for Diversity and Ethics in Sport (TIDES) at the end of 2022, the NFL earned a B grade in gender hiring after its score increased significantly to 81.4%, 6.4 points higher than the previous year’s score of 75.0%.
During training camp, 15 women were working in coaching roles, the highest number for the men’s leagues evaluated annually by TIDES (MLB, NBA).
With it being 20 years since the league implemented the Rooney Rule in 2003, the NFL is making the progress that the league’s Workplace Diversity Committee hoped would follow.
The Rooney Rule, which was named after then-chairman of the committee, Dan Rooney, the late owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers, initially required teams to interview at least one or more diverse candidates before making a new hire at head coach. But the rule has been amended several times since and the most recent revisions include front office positions along with interviewing female candidates.
Kim Pegula, who owns the Buffalo Bills along with her husband Terry, serves at the CEO and president of Pegula Sports and Entertainment. She is a member of the Super Bowl Committee and the NFL Foundation board.
For this season, women reached an all-time high holding 41.3% of positions at NFL headquarters, a stark climb from 27.9% in 2012 and 30.3% in 2015.
Additionally, all 32 teams were required to have a minority assistant on the offensive staffs for the 2022 season, as part of the Rooney Rule. Of the six women working as full-time coaches, four were people of color.
During the season, the NFL made gains in racial hiring, and at one point had seven men of color at head coach when Steve Wilks took over as the interim coach for the Carolina Panthers. There were eight men of color as general managers, which earned the league a Bminus grade.
Overall, the league received an Aplus grade for initiatives to improve diversity hiring.