A New Era in the NFL
A new gender barrier has been broken in the NFL, as the Buffalo Bills have hired the first female assistant coach in its 95-year history. Kathryn Smith, 30, was hired as the team’s special teams-quality control coach just recently, a position first held by many current head coaches in the league today. Bills’ head coach, Rex Ryan, named her to be the assistant coach since she had worked as a scouting coach and intern for twelve years at the New York Jets, Ryan’s former team. Ryan recognized her keen eye, stating, “Smith certainly deserves this promotion based on her knowledge and strong commitment, just to name a couple of her outstanding qualities, and I just know she's going to do a great job serving in the role of Quality Control-Special Teams.” At her position, she will analyze hours of game film and look for more efficient ways for the team to handle the ball—something the Bills desperately need.
This isn’t the first gender barrier brought down in the last few years of the league, as it also allowed for the female referees for the first time. It’s clearly noticeable that many social constructs are being brought down within this league and many others—something that came maybe a little late. Some would argue that since Smith has never played at a collegiate level, or any professional level at that, she is somehow unqualified for her position, when in fact some head coaches today haven’t either, but since their intelligence-over-brawn got them where they were, why shouldn’t hers?
