WFT hires Jennifer King as first full-time Black female coach in NFL history

The Washington Football Team promoted Jennifer King to full-time offensive assistant.

The Washington Football Team had themselves an eventful day. News broke on Thursday evening that the team hired San Francisco 49ers executive Martin Mayhew to become their new general manager. Mere minutes later, it was revealed Washington made history.

According to NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport, Washington has promoted coaching intern Jennifer King to full-time offensive assistant. With that, King is now the first full-time Black female coach in NFL history.

King previously worked with Rivera in Carolina

King had started off the 2020 season as a coaching intern with the Football Team, where she worked with running backs coach Randy Jordan. Washington’s running attack thrived with rookie Antonio Gibson leading the way. In 14 regular-season games, Gibson accumulated 795 yards and 11 touchdowns on 170 carries.

Before joining Washington, King previously worked with head coach Ron Rivera as an intern for the Carolina Panthers in 2018 and 2019. After her time in Carolina, King was the assistant wide receivers coach and special teams assistant for the Arizona Hotshots of the now-defunct Alliance of American Football and worked as a quality control coach at Dartmouth University.

With this promotion official, King is now the fourth full-time female coach in the NFL, joining San Francisco 49ers offensive assistant Katie Sowers, Tampa Bay Buccaneers assistant defensive line coach Lori Locust and Buccaneers assistant strength and conditioning coach Maral Javadifar. King, Locust and Javadifar participated in the first playoff game to feature female coaches on each sideline in the Wild Card matchup between Washington and Tampa Bay.

The Washington Football Team had great success this season, as they won their first NFC East title since 2015. Based off her hard work, King will return to the organization in a full-time capacity in 2021.