As we prepare for the upcoming 2015-16 NFL Football season, the Cardinals of Arizona have just announced that they have broken the sex barrier, as they have hired the 1st female coach in the NFL.
The Cardinals this past Monday the 27th of July 2015 hired Jen Welter to be an intern as an assistant coach for the preseason, and she will work with the inside linebackers of the Cardinals roster. It is thought that she will be the 1st female coach of any category to be employed by an NFL team.
Back in March 2015 at the NFL owners meeting the media asked the Cardinals coach B. Arians about whether or not there would be a female coach in the NFL. If a female can make players better at their position, then he would hire one, was his reply.
Shortly after that meeting Coach Arians got a call from the Indoor Football League and Coach of the Texas Revolution and that they had a female coach on their staff that the Cardinals may have an interest in. This past Monday Arians had a meeting with Welter, once a college rugby player, and who played some 14 seasons of Women’s Football Alliance-pro football regarding an intern coach for the preseason coaching linebackers, and she was employed.
Thus Arians is giving Welter an opportunity in the training camp that could open some coaching possibilities for her, if it is not with the Cardinals, which is yet to be determined. This was not the only addition to the Cardinals coaching staff as they also added the former LB of Pro Bowl fame L. Kirkland to coach the outside LB’s for the upcoming 2 seasons, under Bill Bidwill Coaching fellowship a brand new plan/program that allow previous retired NFL players the opportunity to get coaching experience in the NFL. As a player Kirkland played some 11 years with the Eagles, Seahawks and Steelers and was coaching intern in the Cardinals offseason.
Bidwill, who the program is named after was known for his efforts in promoting diversity in the NFL through the FP Alliance back in 2010 as they hired the 1st African female leader Adele Harris whom was given the community relations director job in 1978, and Bidwill selected B. Wallace as the 1st African American that handle contracts for a NFL Club and that was in the 1981 season, plus the Cardinals in 2004 were the 1st NFL franchise to have a tandem of African Americans at General Manager Rod Graves and at head coach Dennis Green.
So for the Cardinals to hire Welter is another move to diversity. She has a long sport resume, with a PHD in psychology and a master’s in sport psychology. She became the 1st woman to play a non-kicking role in a pro football league for men, as she played in 2014 with Revolution as a RB and on special teams.
The Cardinals coach Arian said he met with the veteran players, and explained what he was doing, and they were all in accord with the idea. So if you’re a NFL fan and Bet on NFL at a Sportsbook, now we will watch to see what develops for the future with Jan Welter and her NFL coaching career!