Natalia Dorantes Hired as Washington Football Team's Coordinator of Football Programs

The Washington Football Team announced Wednesday it has hired Natalia Dorantes as the franchise's coordinator of football programs.

Dorantes will work with "all of the organization's department heads to manage the internal requests" for Washington head coach Ron Rivera.

"This is kind of new ground for us because I've never had a 'chief of staff,'" Rivera said. "So I needed a person that's gonna be able to interact with coaches, with coordinators and may have to say, quite honestly, 'No, I don't think Coach wants that,' or 'No, Coach doesn't want that,' you know what I mean? Because the one thing I want her to understand is that she's going to have my voice, and I trust her."

ESPN's Adam Schefter provided further details about Dorantes' background and new WFT role:

Rivera, 59, explained he came to understand during the 2020 season he couldn't handle all his usual off-field responsibilities while trying to also prepare the team for its weekly game and undergoing cancer treatment. He reached out to the NFL and other coaches about how having a chief of staff worked.

He then met Dorantes during the fifth annual NFL Women's Careers in Football Forum in February, when she reached out to him over Zoom to thank him for showing up to the event, according to the team's release.

"On my interview, I couldn't even put into words how awesome he was," Dorantes said of Rivera. "That whole process of me getting to know him, him getting to know me, meant so much more than, 'Hey, can you do this?' Of course I can, but do you know me? Do you know how I think? How I speak to people? Things like that really helped, and so that really made me excited for this because it's all about the people."

Rivera, who was declared cancer-free in January, noted events like the Women's Careers in Football Forum, which also helped him meet current assistant running backs coach Jennifer King in 2018, are crucial to creating a more diverse, inclusive league.

"What this [forum] does is it puts more than qualified people, sometimes overqualified people, in front of us," Rivera said. "As you look at these women and you look at their accomplishments and you look what they've done and you look at the willingness to work for nothing to get themselves in front of people because they want the opportunity, I think that's important, and that's why I do it, and it's important to me because I want to make sure I do it right."

The two-time Coach of the Year believes the NFL is moving "much closer" to an era where women can move up the league's coaching or executive ladders without their gender being the main story, instead being praised for the work their doing on the field or in the front office.

Rivera has led the Washington coaching staff since 2020 after a previous nine-year stint with the Carolina Panthers.