On Feb. 7, the world marveled over Tom Brady’s seventh super bowl win, but Brady was not the only one who made N.F.L. history when the Bucs defeated the Chiefs 31-19. Lori Locust, assistant defensive line coach and conditioning coach Maral Javadifar became the first woman to win the Super Bowl as a coach. In the N.F.L., the Buccaneers have one of the most diverse coaching staffs. The Buccaneers are also the only N.F.L. team with two full-time assistant coaches who are women. Last year, a number of women made history on the football field, including San Francisco 49ers offensive assistant Katie Sowers and Vanderbilt kicker Sarah Fuller. In 2020, Sowers was the first woman to coach in the Super Bowl, leading the way for Locust and Javadifar.
Javadifar’s parents were extremely supportive hearing that their daughter made it to the Super Bowl. In a statement to ABC News, she said “My dad and my mom were both in tears, and happy tears.” Her parents are Iranian immigrants, who came to the U.S. in search of a better future after the Iranian revolution. Javadifar was raised in the U.S. and played college basketball at Pace University in New York City. She earned a doctorate in physical therapy along with a degree in molecular biology. Now she is in her second year of coaching the Buccaneers, using her physical therapy expertise as a strength and conditioning coach.
Locust, the assistant defensive line coach, has quite a different background from Javadifar, although both women coach for the same team. As a mother of two, Locust started playing semi-professional football at age 40, but unfortunately, an injury prevented her from continuing her own career in football. However, her injury sparked her interest in coaching and she started working for smaller football leagues.
Women in football were rare when Locust started coaching at the semi-pro level. She found herself being the only woman in a room of 600 men at coaching conferences. Her N.F.L. coaching experience started in 2018, as a coaching intern for the Baltimore Ravens during the team’s training camp. Locust is also in her second year at the Buccaneers, and her journey to earning the coaching position was anything but short. Head coach of the Buccaneers, Bruce Arians, has known Lori Locust for almost four decades. He even coached Locust’s ex-husband at Temple University.
When asked about hiring Locust and Javadifar, Arians talked highly of both women. Arians said, “It was time for that door to be knocked down and allow them because they’ve been putting in time, and they’re very, very qualified. The ones we have are overly qualified.”
Another woman that filled a key role in the Super Bowl was Sarah Thomas, who was one of the officiating referees at the Super Bowl. Everyone watching could not help but notice her blonde ponytail hanging out of her N.F.L. cap. She has accomplished many firsts for women in the N.F.L., including being the first woman to officiate a major college football game, the first to officiate a bowl game and the first to officiate a Super Bowl.
These three women are just a few of the many influential women in the N.F.L. Collectively, all of the woman coaches and referees hope for the day women in football is not breaking news anymore. Javadifar spoke on the topic, saying, “I do look forward to the day that it’s no longer newsworthy to be a woman working in the pros or making the Super Bowl for that matter.
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