A FEMALE FOOTBALL COACH!!!!!!.....written by Antonio Mckoy

In the spirit of transparency and honesty let me first say that upon first hearing that Natalie Randolph was going to be introduced as Coolidge High School’s head football coach, in the Washington D.C. area, I laughed to myself as visions of Goldie Hawn’s character coaching in that 1986 sports classic Wildcats came to mind (still trying to keep a straight face). And while I acknowledge that this is Women’s History Month and all, to me the thought of a woman coaching men’s anything always seemed gimmicky. However, in this case I am going to resign myself to hold judgment.

When I think back to the many male coaches I have had in my athletic career, (12+ years of YMCA and Campus Rec Leagues), while it’s easy to want to say that they helped make me the man I am today, and “If it wasn’t for Coach ‘X’ I don’t know where I would be,” the truth of the matter is that all they really taught me was to how to play ball based off of their knowledge of the game I was playing at the time, be it basketball, football, baseball, or even soccer (yes soccer, I was trying to win athlete of the year in middle school). Above all else a coach should be a teacher of the game in question.

While it remains to be seen Coach Randolph’s ability to be a head coach, she has playing experience as a wide receiver with the D.C. Divas women’s pro team. The title of Coach also isn’t a new one as she has served as an assistant coach of another Washington High School for several years. At this point her football resume looks way better than anything I or the majority of Saturday and Sunday afternoon recliner coaches could put together, so I say let her have the same opportunity we would give Joe Blow off the street. But, with that said I also feel she should be completely treated like any other coach. Meaning if she sucks then she should get the same hot seat treatment and scrutiny any other coach would get with no excuses. Or in the words of Chris Rock equality isn’t about being able to be the best like everyone else but really being able to suck like everyone else and get the same treatment.