Photo by Michael Starghill

The Washington Post reported earlier this week that Natalie Randolph, a former wide receivers coach at H.D. Woodson High School in the District and wide receiver for the D.C. Divas, has been formally named to the head coaching position at Calvin Coolidge Senior High School in Northwest. The AP notes that today’s press conference officially announcing her hire was “the kind of attention usually reserved for the Washington Redskins,” delayed nearly two hours so that Mayor Fenty could attend.

Randolph is not the first woman to be named to the head football coaching position at a D.C. public school. In 1985, Wanda Oates was hired as head coach at Ballou — a position she held for one day before she was removed as a result of complaints from other coaches. So assuming Randolph is still employed on Monday and gets the opportunity to carry out her job next season, this is still a big moment for gender equality in local sports. Randolph is believed to be the only female head football coach in the entire country.

Apart from her coaching background, Randolph is also a 29-year-old science teacher who has been at Coolidge for the past two years. She graduated from Sidwell Friends in 1998, ran track at the University of Virginia, and went on to play for five seasons in the now-defunct women’s professional football league. For two years, she was an assistant coach at H.D. Woodson, but hasn’t coached during the two years she’s been at Coolidge. The head coach who hired her at Woodson cast a vote of confidence in her abilities (“She can do it… She’s a no-nonsense kind of coach. She’s a disciplinarian… she takes on any challenge you put in front of her.”), while another (unnamed) coach provided a more predictable response (“All I know is, I don’t want to be the first one to lose to her. That’s going to be wild.”). The team, at least, appears to be welcoming its new leader. Players were among the crowd cheering Randolph on as Mayor Fenty proclaimed today “Natalie Randolph Day” in the District.

The Coolidge Colts were 39-36 over the past seven years under their previous coach. The school’s administration was reportedly not happy with the team’s recent performance, as well as the behavior and academic achievement of the players. Workouts begin in May, and practices for next season kick off in August. You can view a slide show of today’s press conference here.