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The Buffalo Bills just announced the appointment of Kathryn Smith as their full-time assistant coach — making her the first woman in that position in the history of the league. The exciting news of Smith's hiring also comes after Jen Welter made history [2] when she was brought on as a training intern coach for the Arizona Cardinals in 2015 — though she now works as an analyst and motivational speaker.

According to ESPN [3], Smith had previously served as an administrative assistant to head coach Rex Ryan, both with the Bills and during his final season with the New York Jets in 2014. In a press statement [4], Ryan said, "She certainly deserves this promotion based on her knowledge and strong commitment, just to name a couple of her outstanding qualities." He also explained that her new role will be in the special teams unit.

The franchise congratulated Smith's promotion — and acknowledged its historic significance — in a series of Instagram posts. In one, Smith is quoted with saying, "It's a tremendous honor . . . I might be the first, but I don't think I'll be the only one for very long." Smith's story is an inspiring one that also illustrates the NFL's lack of gender diversity at the coaching level — hopefully in a manner that leads to additional changes like these.

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