RENTON, WA - A future Hall of Famer in his own right, Pete Carroll has a number of decorated coaches on his current staff. Running back coach Chad Morton played seven years in the NFL, defensive pa sing game coordinator Karl Scott coached on two national championship teams at Alabama, and defensive backs coach Deshawn Shead played for both of the Seahawks' most recent Super Bowl teams.But an argument can be made that none of the aforementioned coaches have a resume quite Babe Ruth Jersey like Amanda Ruller, who recently joined Carroll's staff as one of three coaching interns through the NFL's Bill Walsh Diversity Fellowship Program and will be with Seattle through training camp and a pair of preseason games.Ruller, 34, set numerous school records at the University of Regina in track and field, including in the 60 and 200-meter dash. Towards the tail end of her college career, she received an invite to join the Team Canada bobsled and skeleton teams. Shortly after, she began a five-year run as a running back for the Los Angeles and Atlanta franchises in the Legends Football League.On top of those athletic feats, Ruller also competed for four years on Saskatchewan's Olympic lifting team, setting team records in the snatch and clean and jerk. She finished fifth in nationals back in 2019.Now, the do-it-all Ruller will be able to add NFL a sistant coach to her remarkable list of accomplishments. Refusing to let anyone tell her what she can't do, she's making the most of her opportunity learning from Carroll and his staff with hopes the internship will be a launching pad to a full-time opportunity either in Seattle or elsewhere in the league.I love the culture. They let me be myself here," Ruller told reporters after Tuesday's OTA practice. "I've gained so much experience just even coaching, computer work, anything that's going to help me be better. They hold me accountable. I'm able to go forward, plan individual se Hanley Ramirez Jersey sions for the athletes. I even got to spend some time within the strength and conditioning room. Anything that I had questions about, each coach helped me, both sides of the ball. So, I am learning so much and going forward, I'm going to be the best coach you've ever seen.Born in Saskatchewan, Ruller remembers her father regularly taking her to watch the Roughriders of the Canadian Football League play. From an early age, the sport peaked her interest and though others told her she couldn't play or coach, she wasn't going to be denied chasing her dreams. Even after being cut by Team Canada, she kept showing up every day until they were forced to let her practice.Years later, for those same Roughriders, Ruller became an in-stadium game day host in 2018. She was slated to serve as a coaching intern for the same CFL franchise this offseason, but fate wound up changing her plans.Scroll to ContinueAfter applying for several NFL opportunities in the past, the ambitious Ruller decided to take things a step further. Traveling down to Indianapolis on her own, she attended the NFL combine, using the annual prospect showcase as a chance to network and continue to get her name out there as a potential coaching candidate by getting resumes into the right people's hands. I wanted to meet people in person just because I had applied for lots of NFL stuff before," Ruller explained. "And being in Canada, sometimes you don't get a lot of opportunities to get in front of NFL personnel or coaches or people. I worked within the CFL organization this Blake Swihart Jersey year, which was an amazing opportunity, but I wanted to branch out because this is my dream to be working within the NFL.Sure enough, the Seahawks quickly expre sed interest in Ruller and interviewed her as a candidate for one of their internship positions. Impre sing throughout the proce s, she would up being selected along with former NFL linebacker Akeem Dent and South Carolina State defensive coordinator Johnathan Saxon and given the title of a sistant running backs coach.Promptly dropping her gig in the CFL to focus solely on her internship, Ruller flew from Saskatchewan to Seattle to join the team in time for the start of organized team activities. Since her arrival, she's received outstanding support from other members of the staff, including Carroll, who has done everything he can to make her feel like she belonged and maximized on this experience. Learning from Pete Carroll has been amazing. He's a great mentor for me and that's exactly what I need to go forward to be the best coach I can be. He made me feel welcome," Ruller said. "As soon as I walked in the building, he said, How can I make you great going forward? I've never been asked that before, so I think that attention to detail and trust to help me to help him be a better coach is something I've never come acro s. I thank him so David Ortiz Jersey much for doing that.In Tuesday's OTA se sion, the vocal and enthusiastic Ruller could be seen taking the lead with Morton observing during individual work with running backs. Specifically, she had Rashaad Penny, DeeJay Dallas, Travis Homer, and company toting the rock and battling one-on-one in an agility bag shuttle drill, living up to Carroll's "always compete" mantra in practice. In earlier practices, she played on the scout team, another experience she's certainly not taking for granted.With OTAs wrapping up on Wednesday, Ruller won't be taking much of a break during the six weeks before reporting for Seattle's training camp, helping coach in a U18 women's tackle tournament in Ontario. It's the first time Canada has ever had U18 tackle football, so once again, she's breaking ground in the sport.Grinning ear-to-ear and brimming with confidence as she spoke with reporters afterward, Ruller is fulfilling her dream with the Seahawks and in the proce s, she's continuing to break down barriers for women in the NFL and football in general. Serving as a role model for others with similar aspirations who may not feel like they belong, she hopes her journey inspired by a relentle s can-do attitude paves the road for them to find succe s of their own on the gridiron."I want anyone that starts in football, whether that be media, coaching, personnel, trainers, to feel like they belong here, that they're worthy. They can Bobby Doerr Jersey see an opportunity. I never saw that growing up, so I want to be that driving force for more women to think that, I can do this, I can make a career out of this.