Kansas woman to serve as full-time assistant for NFL team

A woman from Hesston has been hired by a National Football League team as a full-time assistant coach for the 2017 season.

Katie Sowers, a 2004 graduate of Hesston High School, has been coaching wide receivers and working with quality control coaches during San Francisco 49ers training camp in Santa Clara, Calif., this summer.

On Tuesday, 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan said during a news conference that he wanted Sowers to work full time as a member of the team’s coaching staff for the upcoming season. Cam Inman of the San Jose Mercury News was the first to report that Sowers will be with the team full time this season.

Sowers came to the team as an intern as part of a minority fellowship program after working for the Atlanta Falcons organization last season.

Shanahan was Atlanta’s offensive coordinator last season before accepting the head coaching job with San Francisco after the Falcons’ Super Bowl loss to New England.

Team spokesman Bob Lange said Wednesday that Sowers’ official title has not been finalized. According to the NFL, Sowers is the second woman to work as a full-time assistant coach in the NFL. The first was Kathryn Smith, who served as the special teams quality control coach for the Buffalo Bills in 2016.

Sowers announced via her Facebook page on Saturday that she had accepted a season-long coaching position.

As of Wednesday afternoon, Sowers was not listed on the 49ers website among members of the team’s coaching staff. Sowers is a former member of the United States Women’s Football League’s Kansas City Titans.

This story was originally published August 16, 2017 at 12:35 PM with the headline "Kansas woman to serve as full-time assistant for NFL team."