In 2021, the Bears hired their first female scout, and they will now have their first female assistant coach.
This is not the first time she has broken a barrier in the NFL.
According to Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports, former Washington Commanders assistant Jennifer King has been appointed as the Bears’ assistant running backs coach under new running backs coach Chad Morton.
King is the first black woman to coach full-time in the NFL. She was employed by the Commanders in 2021 and was part of Ron Rivera’s crew that was let go following the previous season.
King joined the Panthers’ staff in 2018 as a wide receivers intern coach and again in 2019 as an intern running back assistant. In 2020, she worked as an intern coach in Washington before becoming a full-time assistant running backs coach the following year.
In 2018, she began her full-time professional coaching career with the Arizona Hotshots of the Alliance of American Football as an assistant wide receiver and special teams coach.
King attended Guilford College and played basketball and softball.
Her football experience includes playing quarterback and wide receiver for the Carolina Phoenix in the Women’s Football Alliance from 2006 to 2017, the New York Sharks in 2018, and safety for the Washington DC Divas in 2019. The WFA is a semi-professional tackle league for women that began in 2009 and continues to operate.
In 2021, the Bears hired Ashton Washington as their first full-time female scout, and she is still on the team’s staff.
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