ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — A University of New England graduate is helping the Buffalo Bills march deeper into the NFL playoffs when the team takes on the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Divisional Round on Sunday.
Andrea Gosper (UNE’ 19) was promoted in May 2021 to a full-time role as a player personnel coordinator. Her job mainly involves scouting: meeting with and evaluating college players hoping to enter the NFL and also monitoring current pros in the league to see if they could be good fits for the Bills.
She was a scouting intern for two years with the Bills after college.
During her time in Biddeford, Gosper was a three-time All-CCC outfielder for the Nor’easters softball team. She graduated in May 2019 with a bachelor’s degree in health sciences. She also pursued an academic minor in coaching, which led her to the football field.
Gosper was on the sideline for UNE’s inaugural varsity football campaign in the fall of 2018 as an assistant student coach and was invited shortly after that to participate in the 2019 NFL Women’s Careers in Football Forum.
She said her experience as a Division III athlete and her variety of roles with the football team made her an attractive candidate to work in the pros.
“I shadowed coaching, helped special-teams, did video, did equipment, did everything. That’s what made me stick out to somebody. When I was interviewing, [then-general manager Joe Schoen and I] really connected on that: him being a D III athlete, me being a D III athlete, and then working for a D III football program,” Gosper said.
In her last two years with the team, the Bills have won the AFC East, defeating Gosper’s childhood favorite team, the New England Patriots. Gosper grew up in Rhode Island.
“It’s validating in the fact that everybody puts in so much work throughout the whole year, and you just see how well we’re doing,” Gosper said. “It’s been awesome. Guys are loose. They are staying within themselves. We are focused. We have a goal that we want to accomplish, and we’re grinding. You would think that we are excited [and] all that. We had 24 hours to celebrate, and after the 24 hours, we were already game-planning for the next game. It’s been all business. We’re still being ourselves. We like to have fun. But we are focused, and we are getting ready for the Chiefs, so it’s going to be a good game.”