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Michael DiRocco, ESPN Staff Writer
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Jaguars assistant strength and conditioning coach Kevin Maxen has become the first male coach in major American men’s professional sports to publicly come out as gay, telling Outsports.com he made the decision because he didn’t want to hide who he was any longer and to possibly inspire others in similar situations.
“I don’t want to feel like I have to think about it anymore,” Maxen said in the piece published Thursday afternoon. “I don’t want to feel like I have to lie about who I am seeing or why I am living with someone else.
“I want to be vocal in support of people living how they want to live, but I also want to just live and not feel fear about how people will react.”
Maxen has been with the Jaguars since the 2021 season. He previously was a strength coach at Baylor and Vanderbilt and also worked as an intern at Iowa and Army.
Maxen told Outsports.com he is sharing more of his personal life now after feeling he couldn’t do that when he was at team events where others in the Jaguars organization introduced and shared information about their families. Maxen has been in a committed relationship for more than two years.
“You have other coaches who have significant others, and they’re talking about their significant others,” Maxen said. “And I felt guilty that I couldn’t do the same thing, that I was letting myself down.
“I want the person I’m with to be able to share that with me.”
According to Outsports.com, Maxen is the first coach in major American men’s professional sports to come out as gay. Outside linebacker Carl Nassib became the first active NFL player to come out as gay and to play in a game in 2021.