Washington hires NFL's 1st Latina coordinator of football programs
The Washington Football Team announced Wednesday it hired Natalia Dorantes as its football programs coordinator, making her the first Latina to earn that job with an NFL team.
The 26-year-old is also the third woman to have the role, following Callie Brownson, the Cleveland Browns' chief of staff, and Sarah Hogan, the Atlanta Falcons' coordinator of head coach operations.
We've hired Natalia Dorantes as Coordinator of Football Programs.
— Washington Football Team (@WashingtonNFL) April 7, 2021
📰 https://t.co/WNO0ohQy9O pic.twitter.com/QJVxa4gxTC
Dorantes will work closely with head coach Ron Rivera and coordinate team scheduling and planning. Rivera wanted to continue to delegate those duties after being forced to reduce his workload last season during his battle with cancer.
"This is kind of new ground for us because I've never had a 'chief of staff,'" Rivera said. "So I needed a person that's gonna be able to interact with coaches, with coordinators, and may have to say, quite honestly, 'No, I don't think Coach wants that,' or 'No, Coach doesn't want that,' you know what I mean? Because the one thing I want her to understand is that she's going to have my voice, and I trust her."
Previously Texas A&M's recruiting communications coordinator, Dorantes connected with Rivera during the fifth annual NFL women's career forum in February.
"I'm a very proud Latina, and that's like the first thing I said," Dorantes said. "I was like, 'As another Hispanic, I think it's great that you're in football because there's not many of us, so thank you for that and thank you for being on the forum. It shows a lot that you're just here supporting us."
Rivera, who is of Mexican and Puerto Rican descent, is only the second Latino head coach to lead a team to a Super Bowl appearance when he did it with the Carolina Panthers in 2015.
Washington has made progressive hires since bringing on Rivera in 2020.
The team made Martin Mayhew one of three minority general manager hires this offseason. It also hired Jason Wright as the first Black team president in NFL history in August and made Jennifer King the first Black female assistant coach in January.