Bruce Arians on Hiring Female NFL Coaches: 'Who Gives a S--t' About Gender?

Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians wants everyone to know he's going to hire the best people  to be on his staff, regardless of their gender.

During the NFL's annual league meeting Tuesday, Arians was asked about his recent hiring of two female assistant coaches. 

"They're good fits for what we need," he told reporters. "The fact that their gender's different—who gives a s--t? They're good coaches."

The Bucs announced last week that Lori Locust and Maral Javadifar were hired as the franchise's first full-time female coaches. 

Javadifar will serve as Tampa Bay's assistant strength and conditioning coach. Locust will be the assistant defensive line coach. 

Arians has been at the forefront of bringing female coaches to the NFL, starting with the hiring of Jennifer Welter as an assistant coaching intern in July 2015 when he was with the Arizona Cardinals.

Women have slowly started to break down more coaching barriers in the NFL over the past four years. Kathryn Smith was the first full-time female coach when the Buffalo Bills hired her as a special teams quality coach in 2016. 

Katie Sowers has spent the past three seasons with the San Francisco 49ers as an offensive assistant. Kelsey Martinez spent the 2018 season as the Oakland Raiders' strength and conditioning coach. 

The league has also opened up opportunities to women in what have traditionally been male-dominated roles. Sarah Thomas, the NFL's first full-time female referee, became the first woman to officiate a playoff game when she worked as a down judge in the matchup between the Los Angeles Chargers and New England Patriots in January.

Even though progress has been slow for NFL teams to open doors to women, it is becoming more common for them to get these opportunities.