Meet the 3 Female Coaches on the Baltimore Ravens’ Staff This Season
Eight years ago, the Buffalo Bills hired the first full-time female assistant coach in NFL history. Heading into the 2024 season, the Baltimore Ravens now have three female assistants on their staff alone.
Ravens assistant strength and conditioning coach Kaelyn Buskey, coaching research fellow Marianna Salas, and assistant to the head coach/defensive assistant Megan Rosburg are part of a record-setting group of 15 women on NFL coaching staffs this season in a sport that has historically excluded them.
The groundbreaking trio spoke exclusively with NBC News correspondent Emilie Ikeda on TODAY on Aug. 22 about the changing landscape of the NFL as the Ravens get set to kick off the season in two weeks against the reigning Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs on Peacock.
“I just think back when I was in high school and college, I never imagined to be sitting here in this chair with you,” Salas said. “And I think about what it says to women and girls now to be able to see any of us on the sideline or to see us out of practice.
“We are very privileged to be on the first wave of this,” she continued. “And it’s no mistake that the Ravens are leading the charge.”
Eight years after Kathryn Smith made NFL history when the Bills hired her as their full-time special teams quality control coach, the ranks of female coaches in the nation’s most popular sport continue to grow.
The number of female NFL coaches has more than doubled since 2022. The NFL also has more female coaches than any male professional sports league in the world.
“Sometimes in football especially, or maybe a lot of things, we don’t always utilize the whole talent pool there,” Ravens head coach John Harbaugh told Ikeda. “There are a lot of women out there that are really interested in football, that are really talented, that can help us be a better team.”
Just like Harbaugh, whose brother Jim is the head coach of the Los Angeles Chargers, football runs in Rosburg’s family. Her father, Jerry Rosburg, worked as the Ravens’ special teams coordinator for a decade.
Rosburg has become a vital member of the staff as she enters her third season.
She had the defensive line buzzing with a fiery motivational speech ahead of Baltimore’s game against the rival Cleveland Browns last season that she ended by yelling, “Every good story needs a villain!” according to The Athletic.
“I was like, I’m about to stand in front of this room in front of these 300-pound men and just talk ball, (and) motivate them,” Rosburg said on TODAY. “That was just such a cool moment for me. Just seeing how we can impact them while being ourselves, I think it’s the most powerful thing.”
The Ravens defensive line helped stifle the Browns in a 28-3 victory after Rosburg’s speech.
“All the guys on the sideline were repeating her line,” Ravens defensive line coach Anthony Weaver told The Athletic. “That stuck with us for a while.”
Ravens defensive tackle Broderick Washington told Ikea that they call Rosburg “Big Meg.”
“She just family,” he said. “Only way I could put it.”
“They just offer you different perspective, different vibe,” Ravens defensive tackle Michael Pierce told Ikeda about the female coaches. “They all play a vital role in our success.”
The three female coaches on the Baltimore staff are the most of any NFL team in a league that remains male-dominated.
“Having the two of them here alongside of me has made every challenge that I’ve navigated in this space so much simpler because I have such an awesome support system,” Buskey said on TODAY.
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