Social Workout

Poet Laureate

Can Women Coach Football?

If you don't know, Natalie Randolph is the football coach at Coolidge High School in D.C. Just days before practice started, her start quarterback transferred to Coolidge's rival Dunbar High School, with little or no explanation--his parents graduated from there, so what?-- and thus heaps of media attention and suspicion.

Now, I know this is a very "power-woman" friendly site, and I suspect I'm counted among the "you go girl" populace. But just the idea of Natalie Randolph and her position made me think--screw the quarterback transfer article--so I'm going to throw this question out there, and see who bites.

I'd never really thought about it, but as a Texas-seasoned football player myself, I'd think it's kind of weird to have a female football coach. Not most of the time, but memories like that time I got smacked with a football helmet in the locker room, then decided I should retaliate by throttling a safety, which started a locker room brawl... well, having the head coach there to pull everyone apart and put us in our place was pretty significant to me and the team.

There are other events too, like how my head coaches would tackle players that were being particularly brutal in practice, would really get in there and slam us when showing us how to hit and tackle. This might sound like the thin line between pederasty and violence, but, hey, it's Texas football.

So, if we could for a moment put aside that habit of thinking we call "I can do anything you do and probably better" that's informed most of our occupational geneder perspective these last few decades, let me ask: is a legitimate, female head football coach a viable option? What would she have to sacrifice, if anything, compared to a male coach? What would she do better?

K, thanks for listening.