A formal announcement is expected at a Wednesday press conference at the school, according to two sources with knowledge of the situation.

When reached Tuesday, Randolph confirmed she had accepted the position, but declined to comment further. Coolidge Athletic Director Toby Strong referred all questions to school administration.

One school source said Randolph, 29, was introduced to the team after school Tuesday. After initial skepticism, Randolph won them over, according to the source, who asked not be identified because school administration requested Randolph's hiring not be announced.

"Some of the kids tried to test her knowledge of football," the source said, "and she just shot them down. At the end, they were clapping for her. They didn't know she played football."

She'll inherit a team that went 6-4 last season and 2-2 in the DCIAA West division, missing the four-team playoffs. The Colts announced after the season that Jason Lane would not return after seven seasons as Colts coach. He was 39-36 during that span.

Randolph, a 1998 Sidwell Friends graduate who subsequently ran track at the University of Virginia, played wide receiver for the D.C. Divas of the Independent Women's Football League from 2004 to '08. She also coached the wide receivers for Woodson in 2006 and '07, while she taught environmental science at the school. She joined the Coolidge faculty in 2008 and didn't coach the past two seasons.

Woodson Coach Greg Fuller, who brought Randolph aboard in 2006, saw how she handled any prejudices and questions about a woman operating in a male-dominated domain. Fuller said Randolph not only is well-qualified to coach, but also able to absorb the inherent scrutiny that will come with her appointment.

"She can do it," Fuller said. "She's a no-nonsense kind of coach. She's a disciplinarian She handled [the questions about being a woman coaching football] very well because she takes on any challenge you put in front of her.

"You always know, with her, she'll get the respect because she'll demand it from you."

But Randolph will have to earn that respect from some of the other coaches in the area because there will be some awkwardness about a woman coaching.

"All I know is, I don't want to be the first one to lose to her," said one D.C. coach. "That's going to be wild."

This isn't the first time a woman has been appointed head football coach at a DCPS school. In 1985, after 19 successful seasons coaching girls' basketball, softball and boys' soccer at Ballou, and being the District's first female athletic director, Wanda Oates was named the Knights' head football coach.

Oates' appointment, though, was overruled by the deputy schools superintendent, a move prompted, she said, by the District's other football coaches. She never coached a football game, though, she did take over Ballou's boys' basketball program three years later.