PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The Buffalo Bills made history on Wednesday night becoming the first NFL team to hire a full time female coach to their staff. The team announced the addition of Kathryn Smith to the coaching staff as a Special Teams Quality Control Coach.

"Kathryn Smith has done an outstanding job in the seven years that she has worked with our staff," said Bills Head Coach Rex Ryan viz the team's website. "She certainly deserves this promotion based on her knowledge and strong commitment, just to name a couple of her outstanding qualities, and I just know she's going to do a great job serving in the role of Quality Control-Special Teams."

Ryan admitted that he consulted with Cardinals coach Bruce Arians before promoting Smith. Arians hired Jen Welter during the off-season as a training camp assistant, but she did not continue into the season with the team.

The Bills coach also referenced the success of Becky Hammon as an assistant coach for the San Antonio Spurs.

Smith is no new-comer to the NFL, even though she will be a rookie coach. Smith has been in the NFL for 14 years.

She started as an intern for the Jets in 2003 and became a college scouting intern in 2005. By 2014, Smith became the Jets assistant to the head coach.

When Ryan left for Buffalo, Smith followed serving as the Bills administrative assistant to the head coach.