Buffalo Bills head coach Rex Ryan. Timothy T. Ludwig-USA TODAY Sports
The Buffalo Bills made history Wednesday when they became the first NFL team to hire a full-time female assistant coach.
Kathryn Smith will serve as a special teams quality control coach under Bills head coach Rex Ryan.
Smith formerly served as an administrative assistant to Ryan with the Bills last year and with the New York Jets in 2014. She previously was a player personnel assistant for the Jets.
“Kathryn Smith has done an outstanding job in the seven years that she has worked with our staff,” Ryan said in a statement. “She certainly deserves this promotion based on her knowledge and strong commitment, just to name a couple of her outstanding qualities, and I just know she’s going to do a great job serving in the role of Quality Control-Special Teams.”
Last summer, the Arizona Cardinals employed Jen Welter as an assistant linebackers coach in training camp.
“I consulted with (Cardinals coach) Bruce Arians on this since he was really the first NFL head coach to make this kind of move when he hired a female linebackers coach through the summer,” Ryan said. “You can see the success some of these young ladies are having in the coaching profession, such as the young lady that is an assistant to Coach (Gregg) Popovich at the San Antonio Spurs, and realize how exciting this is for women like Kathryn Smith as well as the Bills organization.”
Ryan recently completed his first season on the job in Buffalo, compiling an 8-8 record that included two wins over his former team, the Jets.
