Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians wants to hire more women in the NFL | NFL News

Bruce Arians was honored with the Champion for Equality award in 2020; Super Bowl Tampa Bay Buccaneers coaches included two women in Lori Locust and Maral Javadifar

Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians reaffirmed his desire to see more women hired in the NFL as the league opened its fifth Women’s Career Forum in Football this week.

Arians have encouraged greater coaching diversity, making intern Jen Welter the first female coach in the league in 2015 with the Arizona Cardinals and most recently winning the Super Bowl with coaching staff including two female coaches in Lori Locust and Maral Javadifar.

The Forum, introduced by Senior Director of Diversity Sam Rapoport in 2017, has helped create 118 opportunities for women in football over the past four years, bringing an opportunity for those in attendance to network with NFL and college team officials, coaches, general managers and owners.

Arians ’commitment to gender inclusion was recognized last year when it was honored with the Champion for Equality Award by Billie Jean King.

“I want many, many voices and I don’t want them to sound the same,” Arians said. “I wanted them to be different. So when the female coaches talk, when [82-year-old offensive analyst] Tom Moore speaks, when a young coach speaks, everyone listens. We have good feedback from these different voices so that we have a unique result.

“I really enjoy seeing women in our building, our staff coaching and scouting. This year, in particular, sometimes, I think women have the understanding and ability to read men. And it has been an asset to us. “

There are currently seven female coaches in the NFL after Katie Sowers left mid-season from the San Francisco 49ers. Six of the seven were involved in the playoffs in January, with Washington’s full-year coaching intern Jennifer King and the Bucs’ Locust and Javadifar marking the first time female coaches from opposing teams have gone off in the postseason.

Arians want to see those numbers go up.

“You don’t get a job if you don’t put your neck out,” he said. “I would like to continue to build on this. I mean, what Lori and MJ have done, they are laying the foundation for a lot of people.

“I told you two years ago, I didn’t get enough resumes. Appropriately, I didn’t get a resume this year, either. You don’t get hired if you don’t resume for me. Now, I have no jobs open, but I still want at least 10 resumes before the end of the week, so we have them on file. “

Arians as one of seven top NFL coaches contributes as celebrity speakers this week, while three owners and seven general managers speak to the 40 women involved in the top significant floor.

Bucs general manager Jason Licht is among those taking part as he looks to the path of future generations.

“It hits close to the house,” he said. “I have a 10-year-old daughter, who fights with her two brothers, she has an older brother and a younger brother, and they now play flag football.

“She signed up for football this year and she’s been great at playing football. She wants to be a coach at some point, and you don’t hear her anymore. brother says well that you can be a coach, it is now accepted that she could be a coach, because of what was put in here through the Glazer family and BA in particular. “