HEADLINE

Pioneering coach Katie Sowers parts with 49ers

Field Level Media

January 07, 2021 at 7:45 pm.

Assistant coach Katie Sowers’ pioneering four-year tenure with the San Francisco 49ers is over.

The 49ers’ first female coach and the NFL’s first openly gay coach told the San Jose Mercury News that her contract expired and she will explore other opportunities.

“I will sadly not be back,” Sowers confirmed in a text message to the newspaper.

Sowers, 34, originally joined the team as a 2017 summer intern. She became the first female to coach in a Super Bowl last season. In 2020, she worked as an offensive assistant under wide receivers coach Wes Welker.

“I’m going to miss you SF. Let’s see what 2021 has in store,” Sowers wrote in an Instagram story Wednesday night.