Arizona Cardinals Hire Female Coach
The Arizona Cardinals broke ground Monday in naming Jen Welter as an assistant coaching intern. She is believed to be the first woman to coach in the NFL.
Welter will work with the team's inside linebackers during training camp and the pre-season.
"Someone asked me yesterday, 'When are we going to have female coaches?'" Cardinals coach Bruce Arians told ESPN. "The minute they can prove they can make a player better, they'll be hired. Coaching is nothing more than teaching. One thing I have learned from players is, 'How are you going to make me better? If you can make me better, I don't care if you're the Green Hornet, I'll listen.'
"I really believe she'll have a great opportunity with this internship through training camp to open some doors for her,'' Arians added.
If she coaches well there and during the pre-season, she could earn a permanent coaching role with the franchise.
Welter, who will be formally introduced by the Cardinals on Tuesday, couldn't be more excited about the opportunity.
Welter, 37, already created history this past February, when she became the first female coach of a professional men's football team, as she was hired by the Texas Revolution of the Indoor Football League to coach linebackers and special teams. Coincidentally, the Revolution's general manager is Hall of Fame wide receiver Tim Brown.
That opportunity came after Welter actually played running back and special teams for the Revolution in February 2014, as the first female to play a non-kicking position in a men's professional football league. Prior to that, Welter played linebacker for 14 years in the Women's Football Alliance, helping lead the Dallas Diamonds to four championships.
The news about Welter comes after the April news of the NFL naming Sarah Thomas as the first woman to be a full-time NFL official.
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(Photo: Vernon Bryant/The Dallas Morning News via AP)
