Diversity through make-work?
4th February 2021
Last month, the Washington Football Team (formerly known as the Redskins) proudly announced that Jennifer King would be an assistant coach. She is now the team’s assistant running backs coach and the first full-time Black female coach in NFL history.
If King is a competent coach, and I have no reason to doubt that she is, then I’m happy for her. But look again at her title — assistant running backs coach.
How many NFL teams have such a coach? I checked the websites of every NFC team. It appears that none of these teams had an assistant running backs coach in 2020.
The reason seems obvious teams. Teams typically have only five running backs, counting members of the practice squad. A unit that small isn’t viewed as needing two coaches. Assistant position coaching jobs are normally reserved for larger units like the offensive and defensive lines.
It seems, then, that the Washington Football Team has invented a coaching job and filled it with a Black female.
Maybe she’s in charge of relieving their tensions after practice.