When ESPN’s Jemele Hill mentioned women in coaching in a video following the Spurs victory in the NBA Summer League, I was optimistic about how soon the sports landscape would welcome a woman in again after Becky Hammond’s success in leading the team to the title.
The Arizona Cardinals and head coach Bruce Arians proved everyone wrong by hiring Dr. Jen Welter to work with the defense throughout training camp and the preseason Monday.
From an espn.com article: “Someone asked me yesterday, ‘When are we going to have female coaches?'” Arians said. “The minute they can prove they can make a player better, they’ll be hired.”
Welter, who played 14 seasons in the Women’s Football Alliance, won four championships with the Dallas Diamonds. She also played and coached a season with the Texas Revolution of the Champions Indoor Football league, respectively.
The hire does not surprise me, given that Arians has rebuilt both the Indianapolis Colts and the Cardinals in recent memory.
This will be an interesting experiment. However, like Becky Hammond, Welter has the experience to back up her hire.
Going forward I feel that any sports league looking to hire a woman for any position will vet them based on these two women who have clearly paved the way for more women to coach or be associated in men’s professional sports.
