It's time female football fans rejoice. On Wed. Jan. 20, the Buffalo Bills announced they are promoting Kathryn Smith to be the special teams quality control coach. The move makes Smith the first full-time woman to serve on an NFL coaching staff.
According to Mashable, "Smith was an administrative assistant this season for Bills assistant coaches under Rex Ryan, with whom she has worked for seven years."
Before that, she spent 12 seasons working for the New York Jets doing several jobs, including a stint as Ryan's assistant during the 2014 season. She came to the Bills when Ryan did after he was fired from coaching the Jets.
In the statement released about Smith's promotion, Ryan said, "She certainly deserves this promotion based on her knowledge and strong commitment, just to name a couple of her outstanding qualities. She has proven that she's ready for the next step, so I'm excited and proud for her with this opportunity."
Working with the special teams isn't the biggest role on a coaching staff, but it's an important one. Players on special teams can make or break a game. And it's also exciting, being the first-ever female NFL assistant coach. Smith wasn't handed the promotion because she's a woman, she earned it. She dedicated years of time and effort on Ryan's staff and with others before him. From those who have released statements after the announcement, from Ryan to Smith's father to Bill's co-owner Kim Pegula, it is evident that Smith has long had passion, seriousness, and dedication to the game of football.
Hiring the first-ever woman to an NFL coaching staff is a historic event. But it's amazing that it is 2016 and we are just now getting around to hiring a woman to an NFL coaching staff. Sure, football is known as a male sport, so many might assume men would be the best option for coaching players. But women are perfectly capable of understanding and coaching football. Some of the biggest football fans I know are females.
It's exciting that we are in a time where women are getting more and more opportunities to serve on coaching staffs for professional mens' sports. We are as capable as men. Women can offer unique perceptions to coaching staffs and bring something new to the table.
Congratulations, Kathryn Smith, and good luck! And thank you, Buffalo Bills, to step up and make this historic move. I hope more and more women will rise to higher positions this year and the years to come.
