First Female to Join NFL Coaching Staff
The Arizona Cardinals have added Jen Welter and Levon Kirkland and to the team’s coaching staff. This is a historic move for women and the NFL. Welter, is the first female to hold a coaching position of any kind in the NFL. The Cardinals in their announcement said she will join the coaching staff throughout training camp and the preseason, working with inside linebackers.
Thank you @AZCardinals & @BruceArians & everyone here in #Phoenix. I am honored to join this amazing #footballfamily pic.twitter.com/QhepPdgsVQ
— Dr. Jen Welter (@jwelter47) July 28, 2015
In February of 2014, she played running back and special teams for the Indoor Football League’s Texas Revolution, becoming the first female to play a non-kicking position in a men’s professional football league. This past February she became the first female to coach in a men’s pro football league when hired by the Revolution to coach linebackers and special teams. In that role she worked under Revolution general manager and 2015 Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee Tim Brown.
A rugby player at Boston College, Welter has more than 14 years of professional football experience as a linebacker, mostly with the Dallas Diamonds of the Women’s Football Alliance, helping them win four championships. She also earned two gold medals with Team USA at the International Federation of American Football (IFAF) Women’s World Championship in 2010 and 2013. Welter, 37, holds a master’s degree in sport psychology and a PhD in psychology.
Kirkland, a former Pro Bowl linebacker, becomes the inaugural participant in the Bill Bidwill Coaching Fellowship, a program established by the Cardinals to provide recently-retired NFL players with the opportunity to gain coaching experience at the highest level. The Cardinals announced that for the next two seasons, Kirkland will work with outside linebackers.
Selected by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the second round (38th overall) of the 1992 NFL Draft out of Clemson, the 46-year old Kirkland played 11 NFL seasons with the Steelers (1992-2000), Seahawks (2001) and Eagles (2002). A two-time Pro Bowler (1996-97) and first-team All-Pro (1997), he appeared in 176 games (155 starts) and registered 1,110 tackles, 19.5 sacks, 11 interceptions, 16 forced fumbles and nine recoveries. He was also one of six linebackers selected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s All-1990s Team, joining Junior Seau, Derrick Thomas, Kevin Greene, Hardy Nickerson and Cornelius Bennett.
