Don’t expect Katie Sowers’ name to be mentioned when analysts break down the headliners following Super Bowl LIV on Sunday. Assistant coaches, by definition, are ancillaries to what happens on the field during Super Sunday — Kyle Shanahan in Super Bowl LI with Atlanta notwithstanding.
But this hardly means Sowers won’t have a substantive impact during the 49ers-Chiefs game. As a 49ers offensive assistant who’ll be the first female coach as well as the first openly gay person to participate in a Super Bowl, Sowers’ role Sunday will reach far beyond her sideline work with San Francisco’s receivers.