February 10, 2025
Autumn Lockwood Is The First Black Woman Coach To Win A Super Bowl And Very Few Are Talking About It
Lockwood also made history two years ago, when she became the first Black woman coach to coach in a Super Bowl
As the confetti came down inside the Caesars Superdome on the Philadelphia Eagles following their wire-to-wire victory over the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl 59, Philadelphia Eagles Assistant Sports Performance Coach Autumn Lockwood made Black and NFL history as the first Black woman coach to win a Super Bowl.
According to Winning Her Way, Lockwood also made history two years ago, when she became the first Black woman coach to coach in a Super Bowl when the Eagles faced the Chiefs in a game that Lockwood’s side lost.
Lockwood is a graduate of the University of Arizona and played women’s soccer for the university from 2013-2014. She earned her degree in Criminal Justice with a minor in Psychology from the university in 2015. Her father, David, is a former cornerbacks coach for the University of Arizona.
In 2018, she joined the basketball staff of East Tennessee State University as the Assistant Director of Basketball Sports Performance after serving as an assistant strength and conditioning coach for the University of Nevada at Las Vegas (UNLV).
Lockwood’s break into the NFL came when she joined the staff of the Atlanta Falcons after completing the Bill Walsh Diversity Coaching Fellowship in 2019.
Lockwood served the Falcons as a strength and conditioning coaching intern while continuing to coach for ETSU until 2021, when she joined the University of Houston, serving as the university’s coordinator of sports performance for the women’s soccer, basketball, and softball squads.
It was inevitable that football would come calling, as the University of Houston’s Director of Olympic Sports Performance, Kevin McCadam, told The Philadelphia Inquirer in 2023.
“When this opportunity came up to go to Philly, it was kind of a no-brainer to encourage her to go,” McCadam told the outlet. “We hated to see her leave and [were] wanting to continue to help and watch her grow with our athletes. But it’s kind of hard to pass up when your dream opportunity comes your way.”
Linebacker Brandon Graham, arguably the heart and soul of the Philadelphia Eagles defense, told the outlet that the team hoped to reward Lockwood with her first Super Bowl ring.
“It’s been a great year for us,” Graham said. “We’re hoping to get her her first ring.”
Two years later, Graham and the Eagles came through on that proclamation, and according to Christian Elliss, another linebacker on the team, Lockwood’s kindness and joy radiated in her interactions with the team.
Lockwood distributes iPads with a questionnaire about the players’ mental and physical health each week, which Elliss says is a tremendous asset to the team’s mental health.
“There’s been a few times this season where I clicked five, I’m not feeling so good,” Elliss told The Inquirer. “I’m kind of stressed, and they’re able to talk to you and just help you and help talk you through it. I think that’s the biggest thing. Because a lot of times, you feel like you can’t talk to anybody about it because you have to perform. But she’s just been great. She helps us with that.”
Now, after their 40-23 win over Kansas City, Lockwood has helped the team win their first Super Bowl in the Jalen Hurts era, and the team has kept their promise regarding Lockwood’s historic achievement.
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