OT: Bills hire female special teams coach

[neuronet]

My only issue is this a "token" to appeal to the base or to curry favor in the NFL, or has she ascended the coaching ladder by merit??.

I hope it is the latter and she breaks ground, but on the other hand I hope she and Rex fail miserably, not because she is a woman, but because she works for the Bills..

She's been with Ryan for about 9 years, has worked her way up.

The straw man is acting like she is some kind of linebacker coach thrown in there without any experience. This isn't what happened. Knee-jerk reactions on either side are stupid.

Speaking of which, Cardinals have had a female part-time linebacker coach for a while, apparently. Obviously, their organization has fallen to pieces, and their defense sucks now. Because you cannot coach at a high level unless you have played at that level. After all, Belichick balled at Wesleyan.

 

[BobDigital]

Good for her but i don't feel like the NFL was some boys club automatically. It is not like they purposely kept woman out that were qualified for positions. It is that woman don't tend to be football coaches. If more want to get into the field and try to break into the NFL I'd welcome that. Hopefully she does a good job cause i like the idea of people breaking traditional molds. However if she can't cut it I hope she is let go and treated the same as anyone else would be in that situation. Likewise if she does well i hope she moves up.

Edit: And now a joke!

I hope the Pats follow suit and hire females too. I would particularly want a female equipment manager. She could deflate Tom's balls as well if not better than any man!

 

[Tunescribe]

Bills hire NFL's first full-time female assistant

She worked for the Jests for 12 years, came in as a special events intern, worked her way into college scouting, then player personnel, then as an assistant to Rex. Reading the ESPN article, it sounds like she got her foot in the door accepting a position that was open, and has since worked her way into football operations, then the coaching side of things. If that isn't the right way to work your way up the ladder and break into a coaching staff, then I don't know what is.



Your issue with this is that Character Building and Personal development is not gender transferable? These are leadership skills that transcend sports, into all forms of leadership. I have an easier time buying that it will be tough for a female coach to relate to playing football at an elite level, than buying that they can't help to develop character and leadership in young men because of a gender barrier.

Do you honestly believe there aren't female teachers, managers, mentors, and even mothers that are influencing men in their teens 20's and 30's every single day?

Absolutely not, I don't believe that at all. We're talking sports here, not society at large. I have female mentors in my own life who are excellent at what they do.

If you want to believe the genders are interchangeable in all aspects of sports, you have the right to your opinion.

 

[Bella*chick]

Don't get yer dander up. Here's a revelation that might surprise you: women likely are better at coaching women's sports than men because they inherently understand/relate better. Perhaps Bela Karolyi succeeded in spite of gender differences as a father figure to little girls. Geno Auriemma rose to prominence at a time when capable and accomplished female coaches at his level of competition were few and far between for multiple reasons; such no longer is true.

I think Amanda Belichick would make a fine women's lacrosse coach. Which is what she's doing.

It's not about "she got da skillz, she gets da job." Especially at the interscholastic level, coaching involves character building and personal development transcending knowledge of the game. THAT aspect of coaching is not gender interchangeable regardless of how capable one might seem on paper.

Bela Karolyi was only a "father figure" when the cameras were rolling. It is well established, WELL established that as a coach he was ruthless and often cruel. If a girl so much as showed a wink of emotion or showed she was hurt in any way, he treated her with contempt and disgust. I am very familiar with these stories, apparently you are not.

The reason parents continued to send their kids to him? They wanted a winner. He produced winners. You know, like all sports. If Amanda Belichick produces winners, it shouldn't matter at all what her gender is.

Speaking of someone's dander being up, yours goes up every time this subject is brought up. So….to quote you…."Don't get your dander up."

eta: sorry for the continual edits but mens as gymnastics coaches was pretty much the norm. It wasn't some unusual "in spite of gender differences" situation at all. It was the NORM.

 

[borg]

Someone has to follow Wrecks around.....

 

[bbobbo]

OK,Mr. "We Are The World"...I wasn't going to reply to this ridiculous bunch of lies because I have no interest in arguing PC bullshyt but...let's take what YOU say and just pull an arbitrary NFL team out of thin air that no one even knows much about or cares about...NEVER MIND THE ONES WE DO THAT DESTROY YOUR PREMISE. Here's the staff of the Tenn Titans..


Head Coach/Tight Ends – Mike Mularkey-Played in the NFL
Assistant Head Coach/Defensive Coordinator – **** LeBeau-Played in the NFL

Offensive Coaches

Offensive Coordinator – Terry Robiskie-Played in the NFL
Quarterbacks – Jason Michael-Div 1 college QB
Running Backs – Sylvester Croom-Played in the NFL
Wide Receivers – Vacant
Assistant Wide Receivers – Jason Tucker-Played NFL and CFL
Assistant Tight Ends and Offensive Line – Arthur Smith-Division 1 college player
Offensive Line – Bob Bostad
Assistant Offensive Line – Mike Sullivan-ex-NFL ofdfensive lineman
Offensive Assistant – Luke Steckel-College LB at Princeton-son of Les Steckel, famous NFL coach



Defensive Coaches

Defensive Line – Vacant
Assistant Defensive Line – Nick Eason-Played in NFL
Linebackers – Lou Spanos-Div 1 college player
Defensive Backs − Louie Cioffi
Assistant Secondary – Steve Brown-NFL player
Defensive Quality Control – Cannon Matthews-

Special Teams Coaches

Special Teams Coordinator – Bobby April-Div 1 college
Assistant Special Teams – Steve Hoffman-NFL player

Next time...before you jump off the cliff without a parachute, try a bona fide source as a reference...like THIS one

Pro Football History.com

The NFL is overflowing with former players in the coaching ranks. Your post is ludicrous. Yes Mike Singletary was a bust. Tom Landry a bust? Bart Starr? **** Butkus?...aaahhh, why bother, you have your PC agenda to promote...go ahead, give a list of qualified women coaches you know about that can teach NFL linebackers, defensive backs and lineman "the proper techniques" from their wealth of experience..

and here's the record of the tennessee titans: 3-13

contrast with the patriots. i believe their only coach who was a former NFL player is Ray Ventrone, who is a special teams assistant coach.

maybe being a former NFL player doesn't necessarily make you a good coach?
and not playing in the NFL doesn't mean you will be a bad coach?

 

[Tunescribe]

Bela Karolyi was only a "father figure" when the cameras were rolling. It is well established, WELL established that as a coach he was ruthless and often cruel. If a girl so much as showed a wink of emotion or showed she was hurt in any way, he treated her with contempt and disgust. I am very familiar with these stories, apparently you are not.

Yes, I recall the documentary anecdotes of his ruthlessness. That is very sad stuff. Imagine how much better off they would've been as individuals with a more compassionate and nurturing instructor -- someone who could relate better and genuinely cared.

The reason parents continued to send their kids to him? They wanted a winner. He produced winners. You know, like all sports.

I don't know about you, but I wouldn't send my daughter to someone who treated her cruelly simply for the sake of winning. Sports is about more than that, especially for young people.

If Amanda Belichick produces winners, it shouldn't matter at all what her gender is.

Has Amanda expressed interest in coaching the men's team? I didn't know that.

Speaking of someone's dander being up, yours goes up every time this subject is brought up. So….to quote you…."Don't get your dander up."

My dander isn't up, Bella. I'm just passing along observations in which I have strong convictions, as the son of a very successful coach and having coached myself at a minor level.

 

[BobDigital]

Also here is a message for some people talking about how hiring a female coach might not work out due to her lacking an ability to connect with men on a mentor level or the players not being able to relate to her. Maybe you are right. However this is not Middle School or High school. This is a professional sports league. If I was a coach and i found a person that could do a job better than anyone else I could get at the time I would ask that person to do the job.

Now if some players on your team have an issue with it I would say this. "You are not some child. You are an employee brought here to do a job and you are to conduct yourself as such by acting in a professional manor." Also if the players have an issue taking instruction from a woman for any reason then that is their problem and they should be asked to change. If they could not then you could either let them go cause they are not being professional in the approach to their job or hire a male assistant for your new coach if you think that is best for the time being.

I don't believe it will be an issue though. At the least you are dealing with 20 year olds. You should not have to worry about them needing mentors to learn how to be men. First off that is not your responsibility just like any company hiring a young kid out of college is not responsible for teaching their young employees how to act outside of work. Their job is to do what they are told and learn the job from their boss.

If an issue comes up and you feel it won't work out that is unfortunate but I find it hard to believe you should not at least attempt to hire the best person you can.

 

[primetime]

Some big names in coaching who never played college or pro football (in some cases, football at any level):

Adam Gase
Todd Haley
Joe Gibbs
Charlie Weis
Paul Johnson
Mike Leach

In college basketball, Scott Drew, Roy Williams, and a bunch of other good coaches never played basketball beyond high school.

Not sure why people think that a woman cannot succeed as a football coach if these guys have.

 

[Deus Irae]

Watching the white knighting in this thread has been very amusing, so thanks to all of you who've gone down that road. The comedy has been appreciated. It's gotten repetitious, though, and the ignorance being demonstrated is now outweighing the humor, so it's time for thread ignore.

 

[BobDigital]

Watching the white knighting in this thread has been very amusing, so thanks to all of you who've gone down that road. The comedy has been appreciated. It's gotten repetitious, though, and the ignorance being demonstrated is now outweighing the humor, so it's time for thread ignore.

Do you think what I said 2 post above yours was white knighting? If so why?

 

[Tunescribe]

eta: sorry for the continual edits but mens as gymnastics coaches was pretty much the norm. It wasn't some unusual "in spite of gender differences" situation at all. It was the NORM.

Come on. Don't you think Eastern European patriarchal society had something to do with that? I'd think you would be stridently opposed to socio-political gender discrimination.

 

[tasmlab]

It's special teams QC. It's an entry level position where they essentially get locked in a closet and break down ungodly amounts of film.

Maybe I lack imagination, but I would think it would be difficult for a woman to be on the field with a whistle trying to boss around Ray Rice and Suh and the like and be taken seriously by players.

A woman in a closet analyzing film seems plausible.

 

[neuronet]

Watching the white knighting in this thread has been very amusing, so thanks to all of you who've gone down that road. The comedy has been appreciated. It's gotten repetitious, though, and the ignorance being demonstrated is now outweighing the humor, so it's time for thread ignore.

There is definitely ignorance being demonstrated...

 

[BobDigital]

Also to everyone in the thread I know this touches on a sensitive topic but let's keep it to civil discussion. It is the most useful kind objectively you know...

 

[Galeb]

Watching the white knighting in this thread has been very amusing, so thanks to all of you who've gone down that road. The comedy has been appreciated. It's gotten repetitious, though, and the ignorance being demonstrated is now outweighing the humor, so it's time for thread ignore.

Bye, Pot.

 

[meatface]

Maybe I lack imagination, but I would think it would be difficult for a woman to be on the field with a whistle trying to boss around Ray Rice and Suh and the like and be taken seriously by players.

A woman in a closet analyzing film seems plausible.

How do you think they deal with woman in general? Do you think they see a female lawyer and just laugh because she couldn't possibly know anything? These guys aren't idiots and I assume they will show her the same respect that they show any of their other coaches because for one their Head coach hired her and disrespecting her is disrespecting him. plus the fact that this is just a promotion for her, its not like they hired some random woman to fill a quota

 

[QuantumMechanic]

Bye, Pot.

He needs to take time off from the thread to go read his stash of Vox Day materials.

 

[meatface]

OK,Mr. "We Are The World"...I wasn't going to reply to this ridiculous bunch of lies because I have no interest in arguing PC bullshyt but...let's take what YOU say and just pull an arbitrary NFL team out of thin air that no one even knows much about or cares about...NEVER MIND THE ONES WE DO THAT DESTROY YOUR PREMISE. Here's the staff of the Tenn Titans..


Head Coach/Tight Ends – Mike Mularkey-Played in the NFL
Assistant Head Coach/Defensive Coordinator – **** LeBeau-Played in the NFL

Offensive Coaches

Offensive Coordinator – Terry Robiskie-Played in the NFL
Quarterbacks – Jason Michael-Div 1 college QB
Running Backs – Sylvester Croom-Played in the NFL
Wide Receivers – Vacant
Assistant Wide Receivers – Jason Tucker-Played NFL and CFL
Assistant Tight Ends and Offensive Line – Arthur Smith-Division 1 college player
Offensive Line – Bob Bostad
Assistant Offensive Line – Mike Sullivan-ex-NFL ofdfensive lineman
Offensive Assistant – Luke Steckel-College LB at Princeton-son of Les Steckel, famous NFL coach



Defensive Coaches

Defensive Line – Vacant
Assistant Defensive Line – Nick Eason-Played in NFL
Linebackers – Lou Spanos-Div 1 college player
Defensive Backs − Louie Cioffi
Assistant Secondary – Steve Brown-NFL player
Defensive Quality Control – Cannon Matthews-

Special Teams Coaches

Special Teams Coordinator – Bobby April-Div 1 college
Assistant Special Teams – Steve Hoffman-NFL player

Next time...before you jump off the cliff without a parachute, try a bona fide source as a reference...like THIS one

Pro Football History.com

The NFL is overflowing with former players in the coaching ranks. Your post is ludicrous. Yes Mike Singletary was a bust. Tom Landry a bust? Bart Starr? **** Butkus?...aaahhh, why bother, you have your PC agenda to promote...go ahead, give a list of qualified women coaches you know about that can teach NFL linebackers, defensive backs and lineman "the proper techniques" from their wealth of experience..

okay so she is not a former player, clearly there are some of those too. Who cares?

 

[meatface]

Yup...I agree 100%.Now name the woman alive today that can fill that prerequisite. I'll wait.

im not sure but I can certainly tell you who the Buffalo Bills thought the best Special teams Quality control coach would be.