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 that Kathryn Smith has been hired as the organization's quality control-special teams coach, making her the first woman to hold a full-time coaching position in the NFL.


Smith spent last season as administrative assistant to the Bills' head coach, Rex Ryan, and prior to that spent 12 years working for the New York Jets, also with Ryan, who was that team's coach until 2015. Smith started as an intern with the Jets in 2003.

In a statement on the team's website, Ryan said Smith "has proven that she's ready for the next step" and added:

Ryan said the decision to promote Smith was inspired in part by the San Antonio Spurs's move to appoint the first full-time female assistant coach in the NBA. Becky Hammon, a former WNBA player, was hired by the Spurs in 2014.

In 2015, Nancy Lieberman became the NBA's second female coach when she was hired by the Sacramento Kings.


"You can see the success some of these young ladies are having in the coaching profession ... and realize how exciting this is for women like Kathryn Smith as well as the Bills organization," Ryan said in the statement.  Copyright 2019 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.


An earlier version of this story said the Bills' Linda Bogdan became the NFL's first female scout in 1986. Connie Carberg worked as a scout for the New York Jets in the 1970s.

Kathryn Smith makes history as NFL's first female full-time coach

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