Jennifer King (born August 6, 1984) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

coach who is the assistant running backs coach for the

Washington Commanders The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) E ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL). King was the first black woman to become a full-time coach in the NFL following her promotion to assistant running backs coach for Washington in 2021. A former two-sport athlete at

Guilford College Guilford College is a private liberal arts college in Greensboro, North Carolina. Guilford has both traditional students and students who attend its Center for Continuing Education (CCE). Founded in 1837 by members of the Religious Society of ...

, she has also coached women's

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

Early life and college

King was born August 6, 1984 in

Eden, North Carolina Eden is a city in Rockingham County in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Eden is the largest city in Rockingham County and is part of the Greensboro-High Point Metropolitan Statistical Area of the Piedmont Triad metro region. As of the 2020 ...

and was raised in

Reidsville, North Carolina Reidsville is a city in Rockingham County in the U.S. state of North Carolina. At the 2020 census, the city had a total population of 14,580. Reidsville is included in the Greensboro–High Point Metropolitan Statistical Area of the Piedmont T ...

. She attended

, where she played

and

softball Softball is a game similar to baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Softball is played competitively at club levels, the college level, and the professional level. The game was first created in 1887 in Chicago by George Hanc ...

, before graduating with a degree in sports management in 2006. Following graduation, she played in the

Women's Football Alliance The Women's Football Alliance (WFA) is a professional full-contact Women's American football tackle minor league that began play in 2009. It is the largest 11-on-11 football league for women in the world, and the longest running active women's ...

(WFA), where she was a

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

and wide receiver for the Carolina Phoenix from 2006 to 2017, a defensive back and wide receiver for the

New York Sharks The New York Sharks were a women's American football team that was based in New York City. Their final season in 2018 was played as a member team of the Women's Football Alliance (WFA). They were the longest running and most winning team in women ...

in 2018, and safety for the D.C. Divas in 2019. She was a part of the Sharks team that won the 2018 WFA Division II Championship. She would later attend

Liberty University Liberty University (LU) is a private Baptist university in Lynchburg, Virginia. It is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Conservatives of Virginia (Southern Baptist Convention). Founded in 1971 by Jerry Falwell Sr. and Elmer L. Towns, Liberty i ...

in the mid-2010s and graduated with a

Master of Science A Master of Science ( la, Magisterii Scientiae; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree in the field of science awarded by universities in many countries or a person holding such a degree. In contrast to ...

degree in sports management.

Coaching career

Basketball

King was an assistant coach at

Greensboro College Greensboro College is a private college in Greensboro, North Carolina. It is affiliated with the United Methodist Church and was founded in 1838 by Rev. Peter Doub. The college enrolls about 1,000 students from 32 states, the District of Columbi ...

from 2006 to 2016, where the program compiled a 182–63 record, 5 regular season championships, 2 conference tournament championships, and four NCAA tournament appearances. She was hired as the women's basketball head coach at

Johnson & Wales University Johnson & Wales University (JWU) is a private university with its main campus in Providence, Rhode Island. Founded as a business school in 1914 by Gertrude I. Johnson and Mary T. Wales, JWU enrolled 7,357 students across its campuses in the fa ...

in North Carolina, where she turned around a program that had existed for only two years prior into a national champion within two seasons.

American football

Washington Football Team coach Jennifer King

King was one of 40 women to attend the NFL's Women's Forum in 2018, where she met then-

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL), as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. T ...

head coach

Ron Rivera Ronald Eugene Rivera (born January 7, 1962), nicknamed "Riverboat Ron", is an American football head coach for the Washington Commanders of the National Football League (NFL). He attended the University of California, Berkeley in the early 198 ...

and expressed her interest in working with in the NFL. She was hired as an intern by the Panthers later that year, where she assisting in coaching their wide receivers. She got her first full-time coaching gig in 2018 as an assistant wide receivers and special teams coach for the

Arizona Hotshots The Arizona Hotshots were a professional American football franchise based in Tempe, Arizona, and one of the eight members of the Alliance of American Football (AAF), which played one season from February 2019 to April 2019. They played their h ...

of the

Alliance of American Football The Alliance of American Football (AAF) was a professional American football minor league. The AAF consisted of eight centrally owned and operated teams in the southern and western United States, seven of which were located in metropolitan are ...

(AAF). After the AAF folded in 2019, King was once again brought on as an intern for the Panthers, this time working with the running backs. King was also named an offensive assistant at Dartmouth for the 2019 season. While there, she was awarded one of the three inaugural grants of the

Scott Pioli Scott Pioli (born March 31, 1965) is an American football executive who most recently worked as the Assistant General Manager for the Atlanta Falcons. He was an NFL analyst for NBC Sports' '' Football Night in America'', NBC Sports Network's Pro ...

& Family Fund for Women Football Coaches & Scouts, given to female football coaches and scouts to provide financial assistance. She interned once more as a coach with the

Washington Football Team The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) E ...

in 2020, working once again under Rivera who joined Washington that season. She was promoted to assistant running backs coach the following year, making her the first black woman to become a full-time coach in NFL history. King served as the running backs coach for the West team in the 2022 East–West Shrine Bowl.

Personal life

In addition to her career in sports, King has also worked as a

flight attendant A flight attendant, also known as steward/stewardess or air host/air hostess, is a member of the aircrew aboard commercial flights, many business jets and some government aircraft. Collectively called cabin crew, flight attendants are prima ...

for

Delta Air Lines Delta Air Lines, Inc., typically referred to as Delta, is one of the major airlines of the United States and a legacy carrier. One of the List of airlines by foundation date, world's oldest airlines in operation, Delta is headquartered in Atla ...

and as a police officer in

High Point, North Carolina High Point is a city in the Piedmont Triad region of the United States, U.S. state of North Carolina. Most of the city is in Guilford County, North Carolina, Guilford County, with parts extending into Randolph County, North Carolina, Randolph, ...

References

External links

*
Washington Commanders bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:King, Jennifer 1984 births African-American basketball coaches African-American basketball players African-American coaches of American football African-American players of American football African-American police officers American football defensive backs American football quarterbacks American football wide receivers American women police officers Arizona Hotshots coaches Basketball coaches from North Carolina Basketball players from North Carolina Carolina Panthers coaches Coaches of American football from North Carolina College women's basketball coaches in the United States Dartmouth Big Green football coaches Female players of American football Greensboro Pride Guilford College alumni Liberty University alumni Living people People from Eden, North Carolina People from Reidsville, North Carolina Players of American football from North Carolina Softball players from North Carolina Washington Commanders coaches Washington Football Team coaches Female coaches of American football