Jennifer King is set to become the first woman to be an assistant coach for the Chicago Bears in team history.
The Bears are hiring King to be an offensive assistant who will work with the running backs, a source confirmed Tuesday night. NFL Network first reported the news.
King, 39, has been the Washington Commanders assistant running backs coach the last three seasons. Washington hired her full-time in 2021 — making her the first Black woman assistant position coach in NFL history — after she was a full-season coaching intern a year earlier.
Last year, she served as the running backs coach in the collegiate Senior Bowl and previously coached in the East-West Shrine Bowl.
“Just like anything else, I’m trying to put my best foot forward,” King told NFL Network from the Senior Bowl last year. “Continue to grow, continue to learn, just to be a good example to those behind me.”
Before her time with the Commanders, King interned with the Carolina Panthers and was an offensive assistant with Dartmouth and in the Alliance of American Football.
King was a quarterback, wide receiver and safety for multiple women’s tackle football teams over a career that spanned more than a decade. She also was a women’s college basketball coach at Johnson & Wales Charlotte.
King joins new offensive coordinator Shane Waldron’s revamped staff. He has made multiple hires to fill out the Bears’ group of coaches, though only quarterbacks coach Kerry Joseph officially has been announced thus far.
