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Arizona Cardinals make Jen Welter NFL’s first female coach

By Cody Williams

Credit: Dr. Jen Welter (Twitter)
Credit: Dr. Jen Welter (Twitter) /
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The Arizona Cardinals are breaking down barriers, hiring the first female coach in NFL history.

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While Becky Hammon has been making history and major waves in the NBA as she became the first female assistant coach in NBA history and then became the first female to be a head coach at NBA Summer League, other professional leagues have yet to follow suit. That all changed on Monday for the Arizona Cardinals and the NFL.

As the Cardinals build their preseason staff, they have announced that 37-year-old Jen Welter will be added to their staff for the preseason and summer training camps. Welter sent out her gratitude via Twitter:

Welter will be working with Arizona’s inside linebackers this summer after working and playing in the Women’s Football Alliance and the Indoor Football League. She spent last season in the IFL as an assistant coach for the Texas Revolution.

It’s worth noting that Welter has not been hired as a full-time coach for the Cardinals, but her position is rather a coaching internship that could lead to something more. Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians even said as much, saying that the internship could open doors on the team’s website.

While it’s disappointing that Welter or another female doesn’t yet have a full-time job as an NFL coach, this is a step in the right direction in that regard. Hopefully this is only the start of women getting the opportunity to prove themselves on NFL sidelines.

H/T to CBS Sports

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