Archives for January 2016

'Smith, whose official title is Quality Control-Special Teams, spent the 2015 season as the Bills' administrative assistant to the head coach. She has worked in the NFL for 13 seasons, 12 with the New York Jets (six with coach Rex Ryan).'

'The achievement is both admirable and historic, and Smith, 30, got here by climbing the NFL's proverbial ladder the way anyone else might. In fact, she did so without any sort of connection to the anyone in the league and with a glass ceiling in place because of her gender. This promotion was her way of breaking that glass ceiling for her and other women hoping to achieve similar status in the male-dominated NFL.'

'"Well two days later — it wasn't the weekend — he called me and he was like, 'So what you thinking?' My son, he wasn't for it at first. He's actually a Patriots fan. So I was like, 'Coach, we got to sell my son a little bit more, man. You got to get him some gear.' And he was like, 'He can get whatever he wants.'"'

'Most NFL teams have “quality control” assistants for offence, defence and special teams. These full-time positions are purely entry-level in terms of responsibilities; they usually involve a lot of gofer work.'

'The league also had its first full-time female on-field official this season, having hired Sarah Thomas last spring.''

'Rex Ryan is helping to break down gender barriers in the NFL.'

'Rex Ryan and the Bills made the right kind of history Wednesday by hiring Kathryn Smith as its special teams quality coach, making her the NFL’s first full-time female coach.'

'The Buffalo Bills have made NFL history.'

'"Congrats Kathryn!! I know you will do a great job," Incognito said in a post that included a thumb's up and smiley face.'

'"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."'

'"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," Ryan said, referencing Spurs assistant coach Becky Hammon, the NBA's first full-time female coach, "and realize how exciting this is for women like Kathryn Smith as well as the Bills organization."'

'"I consulted with 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," Rex Ryan said in a statement. "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 (Greg) Popovich at the San Antonio Spurs, and realize how exciting this is for women like Kathryn Smith as well as the Bills organization."'

'Smith was an administrative assistant to Ryan last season and also worked with the Bills coach in his final season with the New York Jets.'

'“Percy Harvin was supposed to be a big help for us and we're still not sure what's going on. He's got to make some decisions here coming up. But we need to get somebody opposite of Sammy to be a real threat to that defense. I think that's a big key for our offense, to take one more step, and obviously Tyrod (Taylor), more experience, hopefully the better he gets.“'

'“Kathryn has been working in a football administrative role and assisted the assistant coaches for years. She has proven that she’s ready for the next step, so I’m excited and proud for her with this opportunity. She will work with Danny Crossman and Eric Smith involving a number of responsibilities.”'