KANSAS CITY, Mo. — New to the team, but not Kansas City, Katie Sowers worked as a coaching intern with the Kansas City Chiefs during the off-season and pre-season.
"Being in Kansas City was an incredible experience," Sowers said.
The Kansas native and former San Francisco 49ers offensive assistant joined the Chiefs through the Bill Walsh Diversity Fellowship Program, crediting her father Floyd Sowers for the opportunity.
"I think my dad had a big role in getting me here and getting me this internship, and I know he always liked seats that were up higher, so I think he has a pretty good view now," Sowers said.
Sowers lost her father in 2020, shortly after she made history as the first female to coach in a Super Bowl, working against the Chiefs with the 49ers in Super Bowl LIV.
Sowers described her dad, who was a college basketball coach, as the ultimate girl dad. She also compared him to Chiefs head coach Andy Reid.
"The way that he reminded me of my dad was that I always got this idea that he felt that there's more to life than just the score at the end of the game, the win or the loss," Sowers said. "And obviously winning is extremely important, but you can tell that the way he coaches, he puts purpose behind these young men who are going to, one day, their career's going to end, and he knows how valuable their life is after the NFL. I saw that in my dad and his ability to make sure that these athletes knew that they were more than just athletes."
Joining her twin sister, Liz Sowers at Ottawa University, Sowers coaches the women's flag football team. A group of women she helped lead to the first-ever national championship.
"You know coaching with my sister, I never thought, if you would have asked me 10 years ago if I would have been coaching women's flag football with my twin sister, I would have said, 'That is going to be a comedy show, no way,'" Sowers said.
Her time with the NFL isn't done yet. Sowers hopes to become a head coach in the league one day but said she does not need to be the first to do it.
"I think you should strive to be, if you want to be a head coach, strive to be a head coach, but if you're saying, 'I want to be the first,' that's saying that if somebody beats you, that you somehow failed, but you didn't fail," Sowers said. "If another woman beats me at being a head coach, then we've made progress."
