The San Francisco 49ers have just made history. Katie Sowers has been hired as the 49ers first female coach and will be joining the team for the regular season.
Sowers has some experience with football after being adviser to USA Football and a general manager to the Kansas City Titans of the Women’s Football Alliance according to The Mercury News. It has not been confirmed what Sowers will be doing as a coach for the 49ers, but during the summer she was helping with receivers.
A year ago, Sowers was helping out 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan when he was the offensive coordinator for the Atlanta Falcons. After that role, Sowers transitioned into a scouting intern, according to reports.
Although Sowers is not the first female coach in the history of the league, she told The Mercury News, “It’s groundbreaking and all that stuff, but the more normalized it is, the better it is. As a female, the more someone can ask me what I do and I say ‘I coach football,’ the less shock on their faces will mean the better direction we’re moving.”