Will A Female Head Coach Be Hired in the NFL? The league is not as distant as many desire to think, but being near is not the same as being inevitable. Females today are employed in full-time NFL coaching positions, which were inconceivable ten years ago. Internships have matured into staff roles. League policy has shifted to widen candidate pools. Still, few women call plays or serve as coordinators.
Will the NFL Ever Crown a Female Head Coach?
Cleveland Browns Kevin Stefanski
Cleveland Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski reacts to a play on the sideline during an NFL Week 10 game between the New York Jets and the Cleveland Browns at MetLife Stadium on Sunday, Nov. 9, 2025.
The NFL’s data show measurable change. In the 2024 season, the league had 15 full-time coaches, comprising eight men and seven women, the highest number of female coaches in any men’s professional league to date. Internships increasingly convert into staff roles. Still, few women are coordinators or primary play-callers, which limits immediate head-coach candidates.
In 2022, the NFL expanded theRooney Rule to include women as part of its definition of minority candidates for head coach and senior positions. Teams now must interview more diverse candidates for head coach and coordinator openings. The change increased interview opportunities. It did not guarantee promotions.
History offers benchmarks.Kathryn Smithbecame the NFL’s first full-time female coach on January 20, 2016, demonstrating that the hiring model was effective. Jennifer King was promoted to a full-time, on-field assistant role in 2021. Those hires show teams will reward proven competence.
The math is simple. There are 32 head-coach jobs. Candidates typically require years of experience as coordinators or in a trusted position, coaching role. With 15 women now embedded across staffs, the raw probability that a woman will accumulate requisite experience rises every season. Continued promotions and play-calling chances accelerate that curve.
Hiring bias, conservative promotion habits, and a crowded market slow progress. Several senior coaches have said they expect a woman to be the head coach eventually, but not immediately. Their view is practical: growth is evident, but the final promotion requires a woman to emerge with a coordinator résumé and demonstrable game management.
The title question, “Will the NFL Ever Have a Female Head Coach?” is a forecast about systems more than personalities. It asks whether policy, hiring, and time will produce a candidate who meets the league’s narrow, high-standard requirements. Current evidence suggests a likely ‘yes’, provided there is sustained investment and upward mobility among staff. However, the timing is a function of promotions into coordinator and play-calling roles, not merely a matter of goodwill.