Natalie Randolph was working late again — as usual — fighting fatigue and pounding away at grading papers. Her eyes were at half mast, dozing off, when she was startled by the phone ringing. It was one in the morning, and on the other end was a former player looking for her help. The writing center was closed and he wanted her to take a look at a college paper he was working on.
Randolph wiped the sleep away from her eyes and read, cleaning up a few small grammatical things and emailing the paper back.
Entering her fourth season, Natalie
Randolph is a mentor to her players on
and off the field.
Photo by Todd Bradley
It doesn't matter the time or the place, Randolph is still coaching, always coaching. On March 12, 2010, the
Coolidge (Washington, D.C.) biology and environmental science teacher gained national attention when she became only the third woman to ever be named the head coach of a high school football team.
She was everywhere: ESPN,
The Washington Post,
New York Times wanted to know about the former University of Virginia hurdler at the inner-city high school handpicked to coach an all-boys football team. It all had a movie feel to it. She even has
her own Wikipedia page.
The media demands have since quelled, but Randolph is still there as head coach of the Colts and currently the only female 11-man high school football head coach in the country.
She defied the doubts many harbored that didn't think she would last, and has not only raised the program to a level of respectability on and off the field, but continues to carry the strong bond she forged with the previous three teams she's coached.
Randolph, 33, is entering her fourth season. In her first year, the Colts went 4-7 overall, but 3-1 in the District of Columbia Interscholastic Athletic Association (DCIAA), good enough for a playoff berth. In her second season, Coolidge was 9-3 overall and lost to Dunbar in the DCIAA championship. Last year, the program took a slight dip, finishing 3-6 and out of the playoffs.
But in the time Randolph has been head coach, the team's cumulative GPA has improved from 2.65 to 3.0. Kids that once saw football — and only football — as an outlet to success, have broadened their scope towards higher education.
And though her voice may sound like a young woman, her message is getting across and being heard. She speaks and her players listen.
"It doesn't get any better than Natalie," said Alexis Richburg, the Coolidge business manager and Colts' defensive coordinator who's been with Randolph since she started in 2010. "I started coaching the first season Natalie got the job. We had kids leave, because they couldn't have a female coach. Out of the ones that decided to stay, those kids came around pretty quick. They were ready to roll from Day One.
"The ones that left may have had an issue with a female coach, but that was on them. Natalie always puts the main emphasis on their schoolwork and her initial focus has always been to use football as a tool to get through to them. She's definitely getting through based on the amount of kids we have going to college from the football team. If I had to guess under the previous coaching staff, not as many were going to college. The kids are responding and listening."
During her first season, that team needed motivation, a little shove to get going academically. In her second season, her juniors and seniors knew what she expected, averaging a 3.3 GPA. Randolph's biggest challenge might have been last season, molding a young team to her demands.
"It will get better this year, I see it," Randolph said. "When I first started, the biggest problem I had, to tell you the truth, was the media. There's always been acceptance. That's been the least of my worries. The kids had to deal more with pressure than I did, having a female coach. But they handled it pretty well. Everyone wanted to talk to me and we tried to be as accommodating as possible. But I really wasn't the story. I still don't believe I am. These kids were limbo. They didn't have a coach and I taught a lot of them.
"There were some kids that couldn't accept [a female coach], and I remember three coming to me and telling me their concerns. It's funny, because they're all in college and I've stayed pretty close to them. They told me they never had a female coach before and I told them it was understandable, we'll learn together.
"Winning and losing are not that big a deal to me, as long as the kids are where they need to be. Don't get me wrong, losing sucks. I'm a very competitive person, no one likes to lose, but at the end of the day, that's not what I'm really here for. I want to get kids into college — that's my goal."
It's why Randolph will drive her players to practice. It's why she'll reach into her own pocket and pull out a few bucks for lunch, not to mention the thousands she's doled out on her players for various college trips and camps.
It's why she's mother, father and coach to many of her players. And the enlightening part is they don't forget. They know they can go to her, even at one in the morning.
She doesn't give any breaks though. There is no leniency, because she knows none of her student/athletes will receive any breaks in the real world.
"My job is not for them to like me; eventually, they may come back and say thank you," said Randolph.
As evidence, she quickly recalled a story about a former player she gave a ‘C' on a lab report. The player challenged her, though she remained steadfast. Last year that former player, now in college, came back and told Randolph he now knows what she was talking about.
"Whatever they need, if I'm able to do it, I'll do it," said Randolph, whose work load will increase this fall, teaching an AP course along with the rest of her regular course load. "They know they can ask for anything. I'm Coach Randolph, I'm Coach Ruddy. It's been a natural progression for me. They're my kids and I tell them if they need me, they can call. I have my dog and my Coolidge kids. I'm happy and committed to them. I love coaching football, though. I do love it. It's a labor of love. The kids are what make it worthwhile."
