TEMPE, Ariz. -- The Arizona Cardinals' hiring of Jen Welter, who is believed to be the first female NFL coach, shouldn't be a surprise. 
 
 Not in the least, especially when you look at who made it. 
 
 Cardinals coach Bruce Arians showed his hand in March at the NFL owners meetings, when he, unprompted, brought up the idea of female coaches in the NFL. He said he was asked when a female would be hired. His response was: “The minute they can prove they can make a player better, they'll be hired.” It didn’t take a rocket scientist to see the ball was already rolling. 
 
 This is a typical Arians move. It’s risky and it’s bold, just like his offense. If it works, Arians will look like a genius. And a trendsetter. If it works, it's because Welter is in the right place with the right coach. Hiring Welter takes an open mind and thick skin. Arians has both. Football is widely considered to be a tight-knit fraternity. 
 
 Arians knows this well; at 62, he’s been around the game a while. There might be a faction that chastises him for making the fraternity coed. Some will call Welter’s hiring a publicity stunt. But Arians will let all that roll off his shoulders. He’s used to ignoring the naysayers, having been passed up for a NFL head coaching job until he was 60. 
 
 Arians is progressive and nontraditional. All it takes is one look to know Arians thinks outside the box. He wears trendy eyeglasses and stylish jeans and shirts, and he tops it off with his signature driving hat. And just look at his coaching staff. For the last two years, it was a mix of young and old, black and white, experienced and inexperienced. The Cardinals have three assistants who are 70 or older. One pass rush specialist, Tom Pratt, turned 80 this summer. 
 
 While most head coaches are looking for the next young gun to hire, Arians went looking for coaches who could teach, regardless of their age or gender. He valued their brains over their birth certificates. That’s why it’s not surprising he brought in Welter. 
 
 Welter fits right in. She’s experienced, having played professional football in a women’s league for 14 years before playing a season in a men’s league. She also coached men for a season before being hired by the Cardinals. She has been described to me as a football junkie who loves to study and knows the game inside and out. 
 
 But there’s another reason why this hiring is so very Arians: He doesn’t mind playing rookies. A couple of years ago it was defensive back Tyrann Mathieu. Last season, it was wide receiver John Brown. Arians' teams have thrived the past few years in part because of it. If he thinks they’re good enough, Arians has no qualms about giving rookies a shot. That’s what he’s doing with Welter during training camp and the preseason. Now it’s up to her to prove Arians was right. ||||| During the owners meetings in March at the Arizona Biltmore, someone asked Bruce Arians about the possibility of female coaches in the NFL. 
 
 “The minute they can prove they can make a player better, they’ll be hired,” Arians said, noting that’s all any player ever really wants. 
 
 It was soon after that Arians heard from the coach of the Texas Revolution in the Indoor Football League, who told Arians the Revolution already had a female on its staff that would be worth a look. Monday, Arians brought in Jen Welter – the one-time collegiate rugby player who played 14 seasons of pro football, mostly in the Women’s Football Alliance – as a training camp/preseason intern coaching inside linebackers. Welter is believed to be the first woman to hold a coaching position of any kind in the NFL. 
 
 “Coaching is nothing more than teaching,” Arians said Monday. “One thing I have learned from players is, ‘How are you going to make me better? If you can make me better, I don’t care if you’re the Green Hornet, man, I’ll listen.’ I really believe she’ll have a great opportunity with this internship through training camp to open some doors for her.” 
 
 Welter wasn’t the only addition to the staff. Former Pro Bowl linebacker Levon Kirkland will work with outside linebackers for the next two seasons under the Bill Bidwill Coaching Fellowship, a new program designed to help recently retired players gain experience in coaching. 
 
 Kirkland, who played 11 NFL seasons with the Steelers, Seahawks and Eagles, spent the offseason as a Cardinals’ coaching intern. Arians said because colleges and the NFL start training camps about the same time, the window for interns who work on the college level – like those who come through the Bill Walsh minority coaching fellowship – is too tight. Retired players who want to get into coaching have the ability to work with a team longer. 
 
 “I approached Michael (Bidwill) about starting a fellowship and naming it after his dad, who is a pioneer in a lot of ways,” Arians said. 
 
 Bidwill, who was honored for promoting diversity in the NFL by the Fritz Pollard Alliance in 2010, was the first owner to hire an African American female executive when Adele Harris was named the team’s director of community relations in 1978. Bidwill also made Bob Wallace the first African American to handle contracts for an NFL club in 1981, and the Cards were the first to have an African-American tandem at both General Manager and head coach when Rod Graves and Dennis Green were hired for those positions in 2004. 
 
 Bringing in Welter is another step toward diversity. Her football résumé is long. Welter, who holds a master’s degree in sport psychology and a PhD in psychology, was the first female to play a non-kicking position in a men’s pro football league when she played running backs and special teams for the Revolution in 2014. She also won two gold medals playing for Team USA in the International Federation of American Football Women’s World Championship in 2010 and 2013. 
 
 “She came for an OTA and I met her, and I thought she was the type of person that could handle this in a very positive way for women and open that door,” Arians said. 
 
 Arians added he had talked to the veterans on the Cardinals to tell them what he was going to do and “they were all very cool with it.” 
 
 “It’s not going to be a distraction in any way,” Arians said. 
 
 The move comes at a time when women have made some small inroads into the male professional sports. Sarah Thomas has been hired this season as the NFL’s first full-time female official. Becky Hammon was hired to be an assistant coach for the NBA’s San Antonio Spurs last season, and as the Spurs’ summer league head coach led the team to a summer championship. 
 
 Arians said it wouldn’t be up to him whether putting a woman on his staff first would impact his legacy, but reiterated that he hopes it creates further opportunities for Welter and other women. 
 
 “I believe very strongly in it,” Arians said. ||||| TEMPE, Ariz. -- In March, Arizona Cardinals coach Bruce Arians was asked when the NFL would have a female coach. 
 
 Editor's Picks Cardinals' Bruce Arians breaking the gender barrier? No surprise Cardinals coach Bruce Arians' hiring Jen Welter was bold, surprising and even risky. In other words, it was vintage Arians. 
 
 Weinfuss: Five things to know about Welter Five things to know about new Arizona Cardinals assistant coaching intern Jen Welter, who is believed to be the first female coach in NFL history. 1 Related 
 
 The answer was Monday. 
 
 The Cardinals hired Jen Welter as an assistant coaching intern for training camp and the preseason to work with inside linebackers. She is believed to be the first female coach of any kind in the NFL. 
 
 "Someone asked me yesterday, 'When are we going to have female coaches?'" Arians said. "The minute they can prove they can make a player better, they'll be hired." 
 
 Welter took to Twitter after the announcement. 
 
 Welter, 37, has been making history throughout her career. In February, she became the first female coach in a men's professional football league when she was hired by the Texas Revolution of the Champions Indoor Football league to coach linebackers and special teams. The Revolution's general manager is Hall of Fame wide receiver Tim Brown. In February 2014, she became the first female to play a non-kicking position in a men's professional football league when she played running back and special teams for the Revolution. 
 
 Welter played professional football for more than 14 years as a linebacker, mostly with the Dallas Diamonds of the Women's Football Alliance. She helped lead them to four championships. 
 
 She will join linebackers coaches Bob Sanders, Larry Foote and recently hired Levon Kirkland. 
 
 A news conference is scheduled for Tuesday. 
 
 Jen Welter will work with inside linebackers during training camp and the preseason. Courtesy Texas Revolution 
 
 Speaking to azcardinals.com on Monday, Arians said: "Coaching is nothing more than teaching. One thing I have learned from players is 'How are you going to make me better? If you can make me better, I don't care if you're the Green Hornet, I'll listen.'" 
 
 "I really believe she'll have a great opportunity with this internship through training camp to open some doors for her,'' Arians said. 
 
 It's the second such barrier to be broken in the NFL this year. The league announced in April that Sarah Thomas would be the first woman to be a full-time NFL official. 
 
 Vice President Joe Biden tweeted his congratulations to Welter on Tuesday: 
 
 Breaking barriers and reaching new heights. Congratulations to Jen Welter. This is what progress looks like. https://t.co/A6pT0RFXFL — Vice President Biden (@VP) July 28, 2015 
 
 Information from The Associated Press contributed to this report.
– A woman has never held any kind of coaching position in the NFL, or, at least, ESPN wasn't able to find one. That changed yesterday. The Arizona Cardinals have added Jen Welter to the team's ranks. Her position, per ESPN: "assistant coaching intern for training camp and the preseason to work with inside linebackers." It's another feather in the cap of a pretty remarkable-sounding woman. Here's a sample of Welter's résumé, by way of the Cardinals: The 37-year-old has a master's degree in sport psychology and a PhD in psychology; was a collegiate rugby player; and played 14 seasons of pro football as a linebacker, most with the Women's Football Alliance. In February 2014, she logged another first: playing a non-kicking position in a men's pro league (she played running back and special teams for the Texas Revolution). At ESPN, Josh Weinfuss looks at the man behind the move: That would be coach Bruce Arians. Writes Weinfuss, "This is a typical Arians move. It's risky and it's bold, just like his offense. ... If it works, it's because Welter is in the right place with the right coach. Hiring Welter takes an open mind and thick skin. Arians has both."