The Washington Football Team will promote Jennifer King to a full-time offensive assistant, a source confirmed to ESPN, making her the first Black woman to be a full-time coach in the NFL.
King spent this past season as a full-time intern, working with running backs coach Randy Jordan. Washington’s running backs received strong production from third-down back J.D. McKissic, who caught a career-best 80 passes for 589 yards and rushed 85 times for 365. Also, rookie Antonio Gibson rushed for 795 yards and 11 touchdowns as he transitioned from playing mostly receiver in college.
King also worked as an intern for two years under coach Ron Rivera when he was in Carolina, in 2018 and ’19. She also was an assistant receivers coach for the Arizona Hotshots of the Alliance of American Football.
King was an offensive assistant at Dartmouth College in 2019 before joining Washington last offseason. She was a regular participant in the NFL’s coaching clinics from 2015 to ’18, and attended the NFL Women’s Career in Football Forum in 2018. She also played for three professional women’s football teams from 2006 to ’19: the Carolina Phoenix, with whom she spent 11 years, the New York Sharks and the D.C. Divas.
She also served as the head coach of the Johnson & Wales University Charlotte women’s basketball team from 2016 to ’18, guiding it to a USCAA Division II national championship. She was an assistant on the Greensboro College women’s basketball team from 2006 to ’16.
She played softball and basketball for Guilford College.
News of King’s promotion was first reported by NFL Network.
