Bruce Arians Endorses The Possibility Of Female Coaches In The NFL

Sports Illustrated- Arizona Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians said the NFL could see female coaches in the future, reports ESPN.com's Josh Weinfuss.

Arians made his comments at the NFL owners meetings last month, before the league announced the hiring of Sarah Thomas, its first full-time female official, on Wednesday.

"Someone asked me yesterday, 'When are we going to have female coaches?'" Arians said. "The minute they can prove they can make a player better, they’ll be hired."

Any middle aged white man that can successfully pull off a Kangol hat on a regular basis has gained my respect. With that said, we are just going to have to agree to disagree on this one. I’m not saying a female isn’t smart or talented enough to be the leader of men, but to be a successful leader you having to have willing followers. For every one player she could successfully have a positive impact on, there are plenty that will disregard her simply because she’s a woman. It’s hard enough for a coach that never played or coached the game on a high level to gain the appreciation of his players, never mind one that most likely never played at all.

Simply put, the potential problems of a female presence in the locker room outweigh any of the benefits she could possibly bring to the table. Like it or not, the atmosphere of a professional locker room is one of masculinity, and in many cases, misogyny. You can debate whether or not that is right or wrong, but it’s certainly not changing anytime soon. Not to mention, many coaches are hands on, and rightfully so. It’s not far fetched to imagine cases of sexual harassment or inappropriateness resulting from the company of a female coach. Especially in 2015, where everything is overanalyzed through a negative lens with a fine tooth comb.

I really don’t think someone’s gender alone can restrict them from being capable of any job. However, the circumstances surrounding the position make the risk far greater than the reward. The positive publicity the NFL could gain from having a female on the sidelines isn’t worth the public relations disaster it would face if something were to go wrong. There’s just no way to be the first female coaching at the NFL level without causing a Tim Tebow, Michael Sam-esque media circus. An NFL locker room features, at the very least, 53 testosterone fueled men. What’s the likelihood that all of them would be open minded enough to accept direction from a female in the heat of the moment?