Panthers’ Rivera wants to continue expanding opportunities for women on staff in ’19
Carolina Panthers head coach Ron Rivera was a guest speaker on the coaching panel of the Women’s Careers in Football forum on Wednesday morning, ahead of the 2019 NFL combine in Indianapolis. He addressed a room of about 40 women who work in various football jobs at the collegiate level about how to continue to seek out careers in the NFL.
But when it comes to expanding the opportunities for women in the NFL, Rivera isn’t just talking the talk.
“Ron Rivera has been a champion for us since Day 1 in this program,” said Samantha Rapoport, the event-runner and the NFL’s director of football development.
“We went from zero (female) coaches four years ago to 15 coaches in training camp in the pros and in college. This year we saw the first Division I coach at Dartmouth College (Callie Brownson), and we also had more women in coaching positions in training camps than ever.”
One of those women recently made history in Carolina.
After speaking on the panel in Orlando two years ago, Rivera met Jennifer King, who he ultimately hired in 2017 as the first-ever female coaching intern for the Panthers.
The hire was especially monumental for the organization at the time, as it tried to move past the workplace misconduct scandal that prompted an NFL investigation into team owner Jerry Richardson and led him to sell the team.
When Rivera hired her, King, a former women’s tackle football league quarterback, was the head coach of the Johnson and Wales women’s basketball team that won a national championship in 2016. The program’s facilities are adjacent to Carolina’s practice fields, and King used to watch the Panthers practice through a gap in the fence, wishing she were coaching on the other side.
King was hired ahead of organized team activities (OTAs) in the spring, and made enough of an impression on Rivera, other coaches and players that he invited her to stay on staff through training camp.
“She knew the language, she could speak to the players, and really what was interesting was watching her deal with the young guys — how they gravitated toward her,” said Rivera. “And I was really pleased about that.”
Now, she’s an assistant wide receivers coach for the Arizona Hotshots in the Alliance of American Football.
“The biggest thing I learned from Jennifer is that there is a whole untapped source (of talent) in coaching,” said Rivera. “Here’s a person who really wants to put herself out there and create her opportunity.
“I’m learning to find people who have something to bring and something to offer.”
Rivera spoke highly of the NBA’s Gregg Popovich, the head coach of the San Antonio Spurs. He hired former WNBA star Becky Hammon as an assistant coach in 2014, making her the first woman to hold such a position in any of the four major professional sports.
Popovich, said Rivera, found the best possible candidate for the position, regardless of gender.
That was his thought process when hiring King and evaluating other potential candidates.
“These aren’t just women who coach football; these are coaches,” Rivera said. “I think when we can look at people and not put labels on them as, ‘Oh, he’s a black quarterback,’ or, ‘She’s a woman coach.’ No.
“‘Coach’ and ‘quarterback.’ I think that’s where we need to get.”
After the panel, most media members and other guest coaches trickled out of the room to attend to scheduled combine duties.
But Rivera lingered the longest, passing out his business card to several women and listening to ideas, comments and answering questions.
He wants to make a hire through the Women’s Careers in Football program by April, when the Panthers’ coaching staff begins to install their offense and defense for the season ahead.
He wants to find the next King — or, the first person to break new ground elsewhere within the Panthers’ organization, joining those who are trailblazing across the league.
This story was originally published February 27, 2019 at 6:03 PM with the headline "Panthers’ Rivera wants to continue expanding opportunities for women on staff in ’19."
