There’s something happened at Super Bowl 59 that you might have missed. I can understand. A lot was going on. Like a game. A kind of halftime show. The president has appeared. It was busy.
That excessive kinetic energy in the Super Bowl may have naturally distracted your attention. However, this is important and requires careful attention. A member of the Philadelphia Eagles coaching staff made history. It was actually the second time. It was a quiet history, but still history.
Autumn Lockwood became the first black female coach to win the Super Bowl. The NFL has been checked with USA Today Sports.
Fall made history when she became the first black woman to coach in the Super Bowl at Super Bowl 57.
Fall is the team’s Associate Sports Performance Coach and only one of the women who coach the championship game.
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What do all of these mean? We continue to evolve NFL coaching. Certainly slow. It’s really slow. The NFL is moving forward that it has been a long trek to bring the front office and coach diversity to the league. This is another step in the process.
The Rockwood background shows a steady climb through the universe of strength and conditioning. She worked at the University of Houston and the Eastern Tennessee state. Her introduction to the NFL was made in 2019 through the Bill Walsh Diversity Coaching Fellowship as an Intern with the Atlanta Falcons.
Over the past 20 years or so, we asked staff from various teams and leagues when we believed there was a female head coach in the NFL. The answer was that before we had a female president in this country, we would never soon have a female head coach, from the NFL to the NFL. (The last one proves foresight.)
There aren’t many women in the coaching pipeline, so it could take decades before it happens. NFL owners need to think completely outside the box. Alternatively, the head coach must hire a woman as coordinator and prepare to become a head coach. This is something men always do in the league. In fact, they hire a son to do this.
Again the main barrier is its pipeline. Last year, for example, the Chicago Bears hired Jennifer King as their assistant running back coach. She became the first female coach in the franchise’s over 100-year history.
According to the Bears, last February there were 12 women in full-time coaching roles across nine NFL teams. These numbers need to increase dramatically.
Yes, there was something amazing that happened in the Super Bowl. You may have missed it. But that was important. Lockwood has changed the history of the NFL.
This is the moment of sending a message to girls and women, especially girls and women of color. They belong there.
We have seen many attacks on diversity over the past few months and days. Despite many of these ugly moments, diversity remains our greatest strength. Both the country and the NFL.
Most importantly, Lockwood is good at her job. She is part of the team that is a Super Bowl champion.