Tanier: Slowly, Path to First Female Head Coach Is Taking Shape

JD_KaPow

jimnabby
Messages
11,072
Reaction score
10,836
CowboysZone ULTIMATE Fan
Another great Tanier piece. Lots of interesting stuff in here, about women in coaching (obviously) but also a bit about the coaching pipeline in general. Also: oh dear lord, Belichick has a daughter and she's a coach in the NCAA.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/...-nfls-first-female-head-coach-is-taking-shape

...

In August, [Stephanie] Balochko parlayed her coaching experience [in the Women's Football Alliance] into an unofficial internship with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Balochko got to know Steelers coaches through youth clinics and programs the team runs in conjunction with the Passion. After more than a year of children's camps and email conversations, she set up an opportunity to work with Steelers defensive line coach John Mitchell during training camp. Balochko took a week off from her firefighting job in Ohio and drove to Latrobe, Pennsylvania. She spent one practice in the bleachers, and then Mitchell called her down onto the field and straight into a coaches' meeting.

The next morning, Balochko was a full-fledged coaching intern. "I was a part of everything," she said. "I followed Coach Mitchell, listened to what he had to say. When he got comfortable with me, he started throwing me in to do some things: help this guy with the scout team, help me get the next group ready to go in."

By the time the Steelers faced the Lions in a preseason game, Balochko was ready to do more than help organize the scout team. In the second half of the game, Mitchell asked her to watch the nose tackle while he watched the defensive ends and then report her observations to him.

"I knew darn well he was able to watch all of them and knew exactly what everyone was doing," she said. "So I really concentrated on the nose and made sure I was right in what I was saying."

When Balochko's observations proved correct, Mitchell had her relay her coaching points to the Steelers defenders, who readily accepted her advice. "They were amazing," she said. "The guys were great."

...

"Bill Belichick's daughter would make a great football coach!" Rapoport said of Holy Cross lacrosse coach Amanda Belichick.

That may be taking things too far. The NFL may be ready for a female head coach in 10 years, but another Belichick? Maybe…
 

65fastback2plus2

Well-Known Member
Messages
6,788
Reaction score
6,652
it would help if they are hot...what nfl player wouldnt go out and try a little harder to impress a hot chick? lol
 

DallasCowboysRule!

Well-Known Member
Messages
2,094
Reaction score
991
Eventually it may happen, but it's jumping the gun a little to talk about the first female head coach. The first female position coach is the first step. After that they are just a skip away.
 
Top