49ers Assistant Coach Katie Sowers Makes History as First Female, Openly-LGBTQ Coach in the Super Bowl

The San Francisco 49ers made franchise history on Sunday by defeating the Green Bay Packers and securing a spot in Super Bowl LIV, marking their seventh Super Bowl appearance. However, there will be another historical moment for the franchise on Super Sunday when assistant coach Katie Sowers enters the stadium as the first female and openly-LGBTQ coach in the Super Bowl.

This historic moment was made possible following the 37-20 victory on Sunday night. Sowers captured a video of the on-field celebration, showing confetti falling and the team celebrating.

Sowers simply captioned the video, “Takin our talents to south beach.” This appeared to be a reference to an infamous press conference held by LeBron James in which he announced that he was leaving the Cleveland Cavaliers for the Miami Heat.

Sowers has been the focus of a commercial that aired during the playoffs. It showed her reading from a childhood notebook in which she hoped to be a member of a real football team one day. The advertisement then transitioned to her using a Microsoft Surface tablet to do her job as an assistant coach for the 49ers.

“I’m not just here to be the token female,” Sowers says in the commercial. “I’m here to help us win.”

While Sowers has found a home on Kyle Shanahan’s staff, her journey to the NFL was not an easy one. As she explained during an interview with Kristine Leahy back in August, there were some teams that did not hire her because they “were not ready to have a woman on staff.”

Sowers initially found her way into the NFL as an intern with the Atlanta Falcons in 2016. Shanahan was the offensive coordinator at the time. He later brought her to the 49ers in the same capacity after he was hired to be the head coach. Sowers remained with the Bay Area team and ultimately became a full-time staff member. Now her journey continues with a historic moment on Super Sunday.

“When I’m on the field and look around, it all kind of sinks in on how far I’ve come and where I am,” Sowers said in an interview with PEOPLE. “I see young girls out there almost every game, and someone’s mom or dad is yelling to me, saying, ‘my daughter wants to play football,’ or, ‘my daughter is going to be a coach.’ And those are the moments where it’s worth it.”

Super Bowl LIV will take place on Sunday, Feb. 2, at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami. The Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers will face off at 6:30 p.m. ET.

(Photo Credit: Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images)