Football has always been King’s passion, but she also coached basketball as an assistant coach at Greensboro College in Carolina from 2006-2016. During that time, the Pride had great success, going 136-54, winning five conference titles and appearing in the NCAA Tournament just as many times. Greensboro College head coach, Randy Tuggle, said “She’s a person that you can count on, someone that was constantly working with the kids to get them better. Things happen these days where nobody’s teaching anything. They’re just saying, ‘Go play.’ What made her a good basketball player is that she knew how to play, she knew the fundamentals, simple stuff that nobody teaches. That’s why she was very valuable to us.”

Although King had success as both a football player and a basketball coach, she believed she had to stick to basketball because women simply didn’t coach football. She went on to serve as the head basketball coach of Johnson & Wales University Charlotte between 2016 and 2018. Under her leadership, they won the 2018 United States Collegiate Athletic Association national championship.

In 2018 to 2019, King was a part-time coaching intern for the Carolina Panthers of the NFL. She also served as the wide receivers coach for the Arizona Hotshots in the Alliance of American Football and then spent time on the offensive staff for Dartmouth College.

Like Welter, King faced difficult challenges and beat the odds becoming the first female African American woman to hold a coaching position in the NFL. King was hired by Ron Rivera and the Washington Redskins as a coaching intern. King is incredibly proud of how far she’s come, “I’ve made it this far. Part of my dream is complete but the work doesn’t stop. I have more dreams, aspirations. And hopefully one day I’ll reach that goal.”

King wants to serve as inspiration for young girls, “For the little girls, that’s just what I want for them: To let them know, if this is what they want to do, they can do it,” King said.

Her ultimate goal is to be an offensive coordinator in college football or the NFL. To King, it isn’t about chasing a check but being able to do what she loves – coaching football for the rest of her career. Kudos to King and her triumph as the first African-American woman coach in the NFL.

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