It’s only right for the NFL to diversify things with the Super Bowl taking place during Black History Month.
Assistant performance coach Autumn Lockwood will become the first Black woman to coach in a Super Bowl as she joins the Philadelphia Eagles staff for the upcoming Super Bowl LVII
championship.According to Fansided, Lockwood is approaching a first-time experience as a coach in the Super Bowl following her employment with the Eagles team since August 2022.
She is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) and a member of the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA).
Since her entrance into sports, Lockwood has worked as an assistant football strength coach at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas, worked with the men’s and women’s basketball teams as a graduate assistant as part of the ETSU strength and conditioning staff, and led Arizona’s in-season cheer team’s warm-up and strength training.
Lockwood’s achievements also expand to her membership with Arizona’s women’s soccer team, which she held from June 2012 to January 2014.
Lockwood graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Criminal Justice with a minor in psychology from the University of Arizona in 2015. She received her master’s degree in sports management from East Tennessee State University.
Her position at this year’s Super Bowl LVII also marks her as the fourth woman overall to coach in the football championship game.
As the NFL works to diversify the organization, this year’s championship experience will also include other notable Black women like Nicole Lynn, who BLACK ENTERPRISE previously reported will become the first Black woman agent to represent an NFL quarterback in the Super Bowl.
Yahoo Sports reported that the NFL’s mission to make changes within its organization comes after the 2016 controversy surrounding the treatment of San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick who kneeled during the national anthem in his efforts to protest racial inequality.