Born: 1964, United States
Died: NA
Country most active: United States
Also known as: NA
The following is excerpted from Infinite Women founder Allison Tyra’s book The View from the Hill: Women Who Made Their Mark After 40.
Coaching is another area where older women can have a huge impact in sports. While female coaches are more common in women’s sports, we also find them on the men’s side. At 55, Lori Locust became one of the first female coaches in the U.S.’s National Football League when she was hired as an assistant defensive line coach for the Tampa Buccaneers in 2019. “This didn’t just happen,” she said, echoing the sentiments of many women in this book. “I might look like an overnight success from the back end, but this has been a long time coming … I spent a lot out of pocket. I drove thousands of miles to attend conferences and put myself in a position to listen, learn, and network.”
Locust had loved football since childhood, playing with the neighborhood kids in 1970s Pennsylvania. But, again like many of the women in this book, she set aside the thing she loved, married, got a safe job—in her case, working in insurance—and raised her kids. It was only in 2004, following her divorce, that she began to play women’s semipro football as a defensive lineman with the Central Penn Vipers. By 2007, she was the team captain, MVP, and sacks leader, but wrecked her knee the following year.
“I never played again, but I started coaching them,” she said. “As much as the game made sense to me as a player, I began to see it from another angle (as a coach), and I really liked it.”
Locust began coaching at her old high school, and later the men’s semipro Central Penn Piranha and the Lehigh Valley Steelhawks. “I was working full-time, being a mother, going to all my kids’ events, and coaching, sometimes two teams,” she said. “I never expected to make it a full-time job, but I just kept getting more and more responsibility and more teams were asking me to coach.” In 2018, she was accepted for an internship as a defensive line assistant with the Baltimore Ravens, and joined the Bucs the following year.
“There’s always been a mutual respect. I’ve never run into a problem with a player or coach. The guys get it. They’re accepting. If I’m authentic in my approach, they’re good with that. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.”