The Buccaneers have hired Lori Locust and Maral Javadifar, the first full-time female coaches in franchise history, making Tampa Bay the first NFL team with two female coaches on staff.
Locust is an assistant defensive line coach, and Javadifar is an assistant strength and conditioning coach, the team announced.
“I know how hard it can be to get that first opportunity to coach at the highest level of professional football,” Buccaneers coach Bruce Arians said in a statement released by the team. “Sometimes, all you need is the right organization to offer up the opportunity. The Glazer family and our general manager, Jason Licht, were extremely supportive of my decision, and I know Maral and Lori will be great additions to my coaching staff.”
Locust joins the Buccaneers after working as the defensive line coach for the Birmingham Iron of the Alliance of American Football during the league’s inaugural season this spring. In 2018, Locust served as a defensive coaching intern for the Baltimore Ravens during the team’s training camp, and from 2017 to 2018, she worked as a defensive line/linebackers coach and co-special teams coordinator for the Lehigh Valley Steelhawks of the National Arena League.
Javadifar has most recently worked as a physical therapist at Avant Physical Therapy in Seattle, after completing her sports physical therapy residency at Virginia Commonwealth University in August 2018. Prior to her time at VCU, Javadifar worked as a physical therapist and performance trainer in Virginia, while also serving as a guest lecturer at George Mason University. A native of Queens, New York, Javadifar played basketball at Pace University in New York City. After receiving a bachelor of science degree in molecular biology from Pace, Javadifar then earned her doctor of physical therapy degree from New York Medical College.
A native of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Locust graduated from Susquehanna Township High School, where she worked as an assistant coach from 2010 to 2018. She also held roles as an assistant coach with the Central Penn Piranha, a semi-professional team in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, from 2013 to 2016, the DMV Elite semi-professional team from 2016 to 2018 and the Keystone Assault of the Women’s Football Alliance from 2017 to 2018.
Locust began her coaching career following four years as a player in women’s semi-professional football. She attended Temple University.
In 2015, Arians hired Jen Welter as a training camp intern with the Arizona Cardinals, making her the first woman to hold an NFL coaching position.
Arians said at the NFL combine this year that he planed to hire a woman in a full-time coaching capacity.
ESPN’s Jenna Laine contributed to this report.