Sideline Chatter

Women in uniform

There are many qualities that can make a coach of a professional sports team great. Maybe they have won 10 NCAA Championships in men’s college basketball in a span of 12 years—like John Wooden. Maybe they have the Super Bowl trophy bear their name—like Vince Lombardi. Maybe they co-founded Nike, the biggest sports-brand in the world—like Bill Bowerman. Or maybe their famous quote, “Great moments are born from great opportunities,” is used constantly in inspirational speeches—like Herb Brooks. 

The commonalities found among these coaches are numerous—they win championships, they teach players how to lead, they preach honor and integrity, and. . . they’re all male. 

But perhaps not much longer. In recent years, two professional Bay Area sports teams have broken down the barrier by adding two females to their staffs as assistant coaches. 

Last week, the San Francisco Giants added Alyssa Nakken to its staff. She is the first female assistant coach in MLB history. In 2017, Katie Sowers was hired as an offensive assistant for the San Francisco 49ers. She'll soon be the first female NFL coach to make a Super Bowl. 

While Nakken is the first in the MLB, Sowers is one of four women to have coached in the NFL. Meanwhile, four women coach in the NBA and one in the NHL.

People are often quick to assume that because women don’t have experience playing these sports, they don’t have enough perspective or knowledge to coach them. Granted, the highest level of playing experience is often a prerequisite to becoming a head coach or a manager. In the MLB, 83 percent of managers played in the major leagues. In the NHL, 60 percent of the head coaches reached the league and 43 percent in the NBA. 

However, in the NFL, the number is only 19 percent. Just six of the 32 current head coaches are former professional players. 

One reason is that the head coaching job in professional football is most like a CEO—it manages overall operations while also turning to assistants to work on the details. 

While these women who have been hired into these professional realms aren’t head coaches, they nevertheless hold high positions and are relied on for key decisions made on the sidelines in the heat of the action as assistants.  Better yet, these women actually do have elite athletic experience in these sports, but in unique ways. 

Nakken played collegiate Division 1 softball and interned for the Giants for six years before being added to the staff. Gabe Kapeler, the Giants’ manager, explained that her leadership and executive skills made her a standout hire for the job. 

Sowers was a member of the 2013 U.S.A. Women’s National American Football squad (yep, you read that right) and won the International Federation of American Football World Championship that same year. This experience gave her a distinct perspective to handle offensive play-calling. 

These women are good leaders, know how to manage a team, and understand the area in which they provide expertise. These qualities, to me, are genderless. Coaching at this level is a true meritocracy: show up and do your job. It’s that simple. 

Every coach seems to have the same goal: to teach his or her athletes how to be as successful as they can be. To win. 

It just so happens that these coaches are women. But they want to be successful just as much as the next guy. I believe that experience in the coaching doesn’t have to be earned on a gridiron or diamond or court or arena ice. 

It comes in all shapes and sizes from all different backgrounds. Experience is also rare and expansive in sports—and those who have it, whoever they, is at a premium. Any team who passes on that experience because of a person’s gender is making a terrible and costly mistake.

I hope we will soon be fortunate enough to see women win championship titles of their own . . .  and have their quotes immortalized and their names emblazoned on trophies. The wall has finally tumbled. 

Contact Lacey Yahnke at lyahnke@scu.edu or call (408) 554-4852.