Yes, Arians fits right into this culture of diversity and inclusion the Bucs have built. At the encouragement of his wife, Christine, Arians hired the first pair of full-time female coaches in league history in assistant defensive line coach Lori Locust and assistant strength and conditioning coach Maral Javadifar. And for him, it isn’t about them being women, it’s about having all kinds of perspectives to make his staff the best it could possibly be.
“I want many, many voices and I don’t want them to sound the same,” said Arians about his staff of over 30 coaches, made up of young, old, male, female, career coaches and former players. “I wanted them to be different. So, when the female coaches talk, when [82-year-old offensive analyst] Tom Moore talks, when a young coach speaks up, everybody listens. We have great input from all these different voices so that we have outstanding output.”
And what better output than a historic Super Bowl run and a Lombardi trophy hoisted in your own stadium? The Buccaneers have proved that diversity wins and that there are viable candidates out there that come from all creeds – and of course, genders. That’s not to say there aren’t differences between men and women in football, but Licht sees the differences women bring to the table as an asset.
“I’ve really enjoyed having the perspective of women in our building, on our staff coaching and scouting,” he said. “This year, particularly, sometimes, I think women have the intuition and the ability to read people. And it’s been an asset for us.”
If we know as an NFL collective know that diversity breeds success, why aren’t more teams following suit? What’s the next step? Arians has the answer for you there, too.
“You’re not getting a job unless you stick your neck out there,” he said. “I’d like to continue to build this. I mean, what Lori and MJ have done, they’re laying the groundwork for a lot of people.
“I told you two years ago, I didn’t get enough resumes. All right, I didn’t get any resumes this year, either. You’re not getting hired if you don’t give me a resume. Now, I don’t have any jobs open, but I still want at least 10 resumes by the end of the week, so we have them on file.”
The panel discussion was made possible by the fifth annual Women’s Careers in Football Forum, which was held virtually this year, as part of the NFL’s ongoing commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion. It connected 40 women, 75% of whom are women of color, with leaders in professional football like the three aforementioned speakers from the Buccaneers. Earlier in the day Locust was also on a panel, having been a prior attendee herself. She is a prime success story from the program that aims to help women network and build relationships in the areas of coaching, scouting and football operations. Since 2017, the Forum has developed a more diverse talent pipeline in the NFL by connecting high-potential women to career opportunities in football. Over the past four years, 118 opportunities with NFL clubs have emerged, of which, Locust is one.
Travis Burnett
A pioneer in the flag football community, Travis helped co-found the Flag Football World Championship Tour, FlagSpin and USA Flag. Featuring 15+ years of content creation for the sport of flag football, creating and managing the largest flag football tournaments on the planet, coaching experience at the youth and adult level as well as an active player with National and World Championship level experience.
