Inside the trailblazing career of NC Central football coach Jennifer King
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Jennifer King enters her second season as an NC Central offensive analyst.
- King spent seven seasons in the NFL before coming to the college ranks.
- King became the first Black woman in a full-time NFL coaching role when elevated in 2021.
More than 200 women attended a networking event at the Durham Convention Center last month, where they heard from leaders in their fields. Attendees traveled from around the country to talk sports — from coaching to administration, support staff and media.
For many, including Jennifer King, it was one of the few times they weren’t the only woman in a room.
King, from Reidsville, is entering her second season as an offensive analyst for the N.C. Central football team, following seven seasons in the pro ranks. She was the first Black woman to hold a full-time NFL coaching position while with the now-Washington Commanders.
If you can see it, you can be it.
Kaila’Shea Menendez, deputy director of the Durham Sports Commission, called King a trailblazer for women in sports.
“There’s no cap to what we can do, what we can achieve, what we can accomplish,” Menendez said in April. “We need leaders like her to continue to push the envelope.”
Returning home
King stood on the sideline during N.C. Central’s spring game, sunglasses on, providing coach Trei Oliver with input.
Her analytical abilities and time management knowledge are an asset to the program.
“In the NFL, situational football wins and loses game, so [Oliver] leans on me,” King said. “In our spring game, I was on the field with him, talking [about] when to call timeouts, when to let them go, just sharing what I’ve learned.”
King joined the program last spring, after being let go during Chicago Bears staff changes. She called Oliver, whom King had met in 2023 at an NFL symposium, and he brought her back home.
Oliver said King had “instant credibility” because of her experience.
The team wasn’t fazed by having her on staff, either.
“Nobody even discussed that or even saw her as a woman, I guess you could say, after the first time they met her,” Oliver said. “It’s about business. We see her as one of the coaches on staff. That never comes up.”
King was one of 25 women in a full-time football role at any level of NCAA football and one of 10 in Division I, according to its demographic database.
She works primarily with wide receivers and returners.
In 2025, four NCCU players finished in the MEAC top 10 for receiving yards per game. Three were top 10 in total yards, led by Chance Peterson’s 720 yards.
The team led the MEAC with 1,044 kickoff return yards last season and ranked second with 22.7 return yards per game. It averaged 8.2 punt return yards.
Mehki Wall led the conference with 26.2 yards per kick return. Refeno Vangates was second with 24.4 yards — including a return for a touchdown — in 2025.
As a team, NCCU went 8-4 last season and topped the MEAC with nearly 34 points per game.
“She’s a great coach, bottom line,” Oliver said. “I think she’s brought in so much value to the program on the offensive side of the ball, first and foremost, and then value in a return game.”
From the top to the lowest rung of the ladder
The Johnson & Wales women’s basketball Facebook page features a photo of King holding silicone ring sizers. The post includes the hashtag, “Ring shopping.” She led the Wildcats to a 22-4 record and the 2018 USCAA Division II national title.
It was her second year as head coach, following 10 years as an assistant at Greensboro College. Life was good.
King met Scott Pioli, former Atlanta Falcons assistant general manager, that year. He invited her to practice.
“It was in that moment, I knew that’s what I wanted to do,” King said. “I didn’t know how, but I knew that’s what I wanted to do.”
She also met Ron Rivera, now the California football general manager, at the 2018 NFL Women’s Forum. Rivera was the Carolina Panthers’ head coach at the time. King made a positive first impression, he said, showing dedication to becoming a football coach. He was impressed with her relentlessness and self-advocacy.
A few months after posting the “ring shopping” basketball photo, King gave up her gig to become a wide receivers coaching intern with the Panthers and received a grant to help cover job-related expenses.
Her Johnson & Wales team could have competed for another title. But, she knew what she wanted and walked away from basketball.
“We won a national championship, and I left,” King said. “I don’t know. I just did it.”
Setting an example for others
Professional football in the United States began in the 1890s before the NFL formed in 1920. It took 95 years after that for a woman to earn a spot on an NFL coaching staff.
NFL teams employed 15 full-time female coaches in 2024. A team didn’t hire a woman to its coaching staff until 2015, when the Arizona Cardinals selected Jennifer Welter as a coaching intern.
King joined Welter in the history books six years later. She became the first Black woman in a full-time NFL coaching role after Rivera promoted her to assistant running backs coach at Washington.
Neither King nor Rivera knew she was the first. He was elevating a trusted employee who could help the team.
“In sports, and in general, everybody should have that opportunity,” Rivera said. “All it needs to be is fair. From that point, you hire the best person.”
King’s resume includes two seasons with the Panthers, a stop at Dartmouth, time with the Arizona Hotshots in the now-defunct Alliance of American Football, and her other coaching experience.
She also brought two decades of experience playing in a women’s professional league and interpersonal skills.
King didn’t immediately understand the magnitude of her promotion, and how it could affect the future.
She does now.
King possesses a deeper appreciation — both for the title, those who helped her earn it, and women in the future.
“I love history, so to be a part of it is pretty cool,” King said. “It’s something I don’t take lightly, because I know there’s people coming behind me. I want to do a great job for them as well.”
‘Proven her worth and ability’
Washington assistant Randy Jordan, now with the Tennessee Titans, instructed King to work with young running backs on specific pass protection drills.
Rivera remembers her pride when the effort translated to a game.
“When she pointed it out, (she said), ‘I love how he stepped inside. Love how he forced him outside,’” Rivera said. “You could tell she had worked hard with him, and he was able to be successful.”
King hasn’t picked up as many wins as she’d like, but some of her players — including Christian McCaffrey, Antonio Gibson and D’Andre Swift — have recorded excellent individual seasons.
“My players have performed, and that’s all I care about,” King said. “Are they performing? And people see that.”
King has earned the respect of players and other coaches with relative ease. Her experience speaks for itself and the coach knows how to connect with anyone. That’s what makes her an asset, Rivera said.
He witnessed the way King interacted with her players. There was a different tone. She was still professional, but King provided a different perspective.
“There’s been some people that looked into this,” Rivera said. “What they found is, when women are involved with sports, there’s an innate, overall feeling that they can bring down the anxiety of athletes around them.”
Rivera often worries how many people are in the league — either as a player or a coach — for notoriety instead of passion for the sport.
That’s not King. She has lived in five locations since 2018 and held multiple positions with six different organizations. She loves football and teaching.
Rivera believes King’s future is bright and she will be in the league again. Right now, her stop is in Durham.
“She knows what it takes,” he said. “She knows what’s required. She’s proven her worth and her ability.”
This story was originally published May 15, 2026 at 5:30 AM with the headline "Inside the trailblazing career of NC Central football coach Jennifer King."
