Falcons: Special team coordinator Marquice Williams participates in 2021 Bill Walsh Diversity Coaching Fellowship

Each twelvemonth the National Football League (NFL) works to make a stronger, much divers pipeline with an effort to let candidates the accidental to beryllium considered for assorted shot operations roles wrong NFL clubs. Today, it was announced that 122 coaches participated successful the 2021 Bill Walsh Diversity Coaching Fellowship and 25 aspiring scouts participated successful the 2021 Nunn-Wooten Scouting Fellowship. Of the total, 32 Bill Walsh fellows and 9 Nunn-Wooten fellows are NFL Legends.

The Bill Walsh Diversity Coaching Fellowship, named aft precocious Pro Football Hall of Fame caput manager Bill Walsh, provides NFL coaching experience to talented minority college coaches, precocious schoolhouse coaches and erstwhile players. Designed arsenic a vocational instrumentality to summation the fig of full-time NFL number coaches, each 32 NFL clubs person participated since its inception successful 1987.

The Nunn-Wooten Scouting Fellowship, launched successful 2015, exposes NFL Legends, erstwhile assemblage shot players, and those presently moving successful assemblage shot to a vocation successful scouting. The programme gives participants a unsocial glimpse into subordinate unit by introducing them to assorted areas related to some assemblage and nonrecreational scouting.

According to a property release, determination are presently 58 Bill Walsh fellows from the past 5 years coaching successful the NFL today, successful portion owed to coaches similar Ron Rivera, Washington Football Team’s Head Coach. As a subordinate of the Bill Walsh Advisory Council, Rivera has consistently shown large committedness to the fellowship and demonstrated enactment for the ngo down the program.

“I judge the interaction that the Bill Walsh Diversity Coaching Fellowship and Nunn-Wooten Scouting Fellowship has had connected our crippled is genuinely remarkable, it has opened up truthful galore opportunities for coaches and unit executives that different whitethorn not person gotten them, particularly men and women of color” said Washington Football Coach Ron Rivera. “These fellowships some springiness deserving men and women the accidental to get their ft successful the doorway and prosecute a vocation that they are passionate about. As idiosyncratic who took portion successful an NFL coaching internship to commencement my career, I admit that by getting that opportunity, I earned everything I’ve achieved from that constituent on.”

These fellowships besides service to assistance erstwhile collegiate shot players and NFL Legends, including Orlando Franklin and Clint McMillian get backmost into the game. Franklin, a erstwhile seven-year NFL veteran, interned with the 49ers this past summer. At the extremity of his fellowship, Franklin accepted a coaching presumption successful San Francisco. Former Florida State antiaircraft tackle Clint McMillan was brought connected to the Titans unit pursuing the extremity of his fellowship with the club.

This twelvemonth done the Nunn-Wooten Fellowship, the Chicago Bears hired their archetypal full-time pistillate scout, Ashton Washington. Washington entered grooming campy arsenic a subordinate unit intern arsenic portion of the fellowship and present works successful a full-time scouting role, demonstrating the focused improvement this fellowship offers and the increasing spot of the NFL’s pipeline.

“The yearly Bill Walsh Diversity Coaching and Nunn-Wooten Scouting fellowships supply america with an fantabulous assets to further enactment diverseness and inclusion crossed our Football Operations opportunities, arsenic good arsenic enactment alongside talented up-and-coming coaches and scouts” said Chicago Bears General Manager Ryan Pace. “We person made respective full-time hires done the program, astir precocious Ashton Washington arsenic Scouting Assistant. She is an unthinkable summation to the nine and her beardown recruiting and operations acquisition crossed galore levels of play brings a unsocial and valued position to our scouting team. We’re arrogant to beryllium taking an important measurement arsenic we proceed to physique upon our efforts to amusement that shot is for everyone.”

While astir fellowships hap during Training Camp, minicamp, oregon organized squad activities, immoderate clubs take to widen their Fellows into the season. The extensions of these fellowships item clubs’ continued dedication to processing a divers pipeline of personnel. For the Bill Walsh Fellowship, these clubs include: the Arizona Cardinals, Houston Texans, New England Patriots, Philadelphia Eagles, Seattle Seahawks, San Francisco 49ers, and Tennessee Titans. As for the Nunn-Wooten Fellowship, the extensions came from the Baltimore Ravens, Buffalo Bills, Chicago Bears, Los Angeles Rams, and the San Francisco 49ers.

In summation to the yearly in-person fellowships, virtual programs were established successful 2020 and continued this twelvemonth arsenic an further improvement opportunity. These virtual sessions, hosted by coaches and unit executives astatine clubs, focused connected advancement and mentorship, providing an accidental for number coaches and scouts to further their skillset, heighten their cognition of the game, and prosecute with different colleagues astir the league.

This year’s speakers for the virtual Bill Walsh Fellowship programs included:

·       Atlanta Falcons Special Teams Coordinator Marquice Williams,

·       Cleveland Browns Assistant Defensive Backs Coach Brandon Lynch,

·       Tampa Bay Buccaneers Assistant Wide Receivers Coach Thad Lewis, and

·       Washington Football Team Head Coach Ron Rivera.

This year’s speakers for the virtual Nunn-Wooten Fellowship programs included:

·       Kansas City Chiefs Executive Director of Player Personnel Ryan Poles,

·       Minnesota Vikings National Scout Chisom Opara, and

·       Philadelphia Eagles Director of Player Personnel Brandon Brown.

The 2022 Bill Walsh Diversity Coaching Fellowship and Nunn-Wooten Scouting Fellowship applications volition unfastened successful March 2022.

For much accusation connected the Bill Walsh Diversity Coaching Fellowship caput to operations.nfl.com/inside-football-ops/players-legends/nfl-player-engagement/support-for-players-on-and-off-the-field/bill-walsh-diversity-coaching-fellowship/

For much accusation connected the Nunn-Wooten Scouting Fellowship caput to operations.nfl.com/inside-football-ops/players-legends/nfl-player-engagement/support-for-players-on-and-off-the-field/nunn-wooten-scouting-fellowship/