Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach Bruce Arians continues his effort to employ the most diverse coaching staff in the NFL.
During the third annual Women's Careers in Football Forum at the NFL Scouting Combine last week, Arians told Melissa Jacobs of TheFootballGirl.com he plans to establish a full-time coaching position on his staff for a woman.
A timeframe for adding the position is not set, Jacobs reported, but Arians said it could be as soon as the 2019 season. Arians added that he feels the pool of applicants is wide enough to hire a worthy candidate.
The Bucs coach noted that hiring a female to a full-time position must have internal support all the way up the chain.
"You have to have the right support from ownership," he said.
During his tenure with the Arizona Cardinals, Arians hired Jen Welter to serve as the first female assistant coach for the 2015 preseason. During the Women's Forum last week, Arians wondered why some of those internships don't lead to full-time positions. Katie Sowers, entering her third season on Kyle Shanahan's staff with the San Francisco 49ers, is the only full-time female coach in the NFL.
Arians' staff is already the most diverse in the NFL with African-Americans employed at the top four assistant positions, including all three coordinator jobs. Adding a full-time female coach to the staff would further improve that diversity.
Any person still sticking with the dunderheaded insistence that women can't coach men because they didn't play in the NFL, we offer this reminder: The greatest football coach of all time is a sub-6-foot frumpkin who didn't play a single down professionally, Bill Belichick.
