Women Tackle Leadership Roles in Football

In the past six years, Dartmouth has paved the way for women in football. The late Buddy Teevens '79, who had led the Big Green as head coach for 22 seasons, was an advocate for not only making the sport safer, but welcoming and including women on his coaching staff.

Thanks to Teevens, the football program has welcomed six female coaches to their staff, all of which have gone on to careers in professional, semiprofessional, and collegiate football. With Sammy McCorkle now taking the reins of the program, Teevens' legacy lives on as the seventh female to work with the program will start next month.

McCorkle, who worked under Teevens since he returned to the program in 2005, said Teevens was always looking for ways to make the game better, he never wanted to be stale. The two ways Teevens saw to make that happen was from a safety perspective, and including women, providing them with an opportunity to learn, grow, and have an impact on the game.

Jennifer King was the fourth woman to make her way to Hanover. Echoing McCorkle, she said Teevens was "one-of-a-kind", and that "his forward thinking helped to make the game safer, and obviously, involving women in the program helped change the landscape of football at all levels."

While King did not join the team until 2019, the path for women in football began with Chenell Tillman-Brooks and Callie Brownson a year earlier. Teevens hired them, alongside 14 other women, to coach at a women's clinic and one day camp with the Manning Passing Academy, a camp owned by the Manning family that covers the fundamentals of football while catering to offensive skill positions.

McCorkle said the Manning Passing Academy was not only a way for Teevens to get women involved in football, but to see what they could do. Both Tillman-Brooks and Brownson made an impression, as they were hired as coaching interns during the Big Green's preseason camp.

The pair were included in all traditional roles of those on the coaching staff including recruiting meetings, strength and conditioning sessions, practice and game planning, film, and support on the field during practice.

After their intern roles, Teevens hired Brownson full-time, serving as a quality control coach for the Big Green, making her the first known full-time female football coach at the Division I level, the beginning of a long line of women to get their start at Memorial Field.

Brownson, now with the Cleveland Browns, continues to make history. In 2020, she served as the acting tight ends coach during a win over the Jacksonville Jaguars, again making her the first woman to coach a position group at the National Football League level.

Lo Locust also worked with the Big Green in 2018. Now with the Tennessee Titans, she is working with her third NFL team, previously serving as a coaching intern for the Baltimore Ravens and an assistant defensive line coach with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

In 2019, the Big Green welcomed King to their staff as a quality control coach. During her tenure with the Big Green, the team went 9-1, winning the Ivy League Championship including a 21^st ranking in FCS. Following King's time with the Big Green, she reunited with mentor Ron Rivera, joining the Washington Commanders as a full-time coaching intern, being paid as a full-time staff member despite the intern title. The next year, King was promoted to the Commanders' assistant running backs coach, making history as the first African American female assistant coach in the NFL.

"It was a great experience and Dartmouth was a special place to work," King said. "Working with [Teevens] and the football program was great for my growth as a coach and career. It was a bunch of really good people on the staff and so many great guys on the team."

The Big Green also hired Erin Craig in 2019. Craig served as a varsity football coaching intern and since her time with Dartmouth, has worked in a variety of roles including defensive and offensive quality control, strength and conditioning, corners assistant coach, and defensive backs assistant coach.

The line of successful female coaches does not stop there, as Mickey Grace was hired as a defensive assistant in 2021. Now an assistant defensive line coach at UConn, Grace has coached in three tropical bowls and attended the NFL-NCAA Coaches Academy.

Starting April 3, Erin Brennan will continue the legacy of women making a positive impact in Dartmouth football, working as the recruiting and operations coordinator. Alongside current Senior Director of Football Operations Dino Cauteruccio Jr. and Director of Recruiting Danny O'Dea, Brennan will build upon her current skills in operations while also getting a glimpse at recruiting.

The common denominator among these women that have proved successful with the Big Green is their work ethic, according to McCorkle. He said they bring the same energy, sense of urgency and desire to learn to a game that is changing every day.

Additionally, McCorkle is grateful to be able to continue Teevens' legacy using his blueprint, while also continuing to lay his own groundwork. McCorkle said he recently attended the NFL Women's Forum in which current women in the NFL and those interested learned more about networking opportunities and how to advance their careers. He described the experience as "amazing", saying it is evident football is not just a male sport anymore and that women are not intimidated.

At the end of the day, McCorkle said the goal is always to win games. Bringing in women provides new perspectives and provides a new level of respect among the coaching staff, all to help reach the shared goal of winning.

King also talked about these different perspectives, saying "Dartmouth was my first time working in college football and it was great observing how each coach taught and instructed their position groups to prepare us to reach our team goals."

She continued, praising both Teevens and McCorkle and the future of Dartmouth football. "I'm so thankful for Buddy and the Dartmouth family for embracing me," King said. "I still keep track of how the football team is doing and wish them nothing but success moving forward. Coach McCorkle is a great coach and will continue the tradition of excellence in the football program."

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Women Tackle Leadership Roles in Football

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