On this segment of The Day With Trae, host Trae Holiday welcomes Rodney McCurry, Head Football Coach and Board Member for the Seattle Majestics. The Majestics are one of the premier teams in women's American football, competing in the Women's National Football Conference (WNFC). During the interview, McCurry shares his journey from his early days to his current role in coaching women's football and his vision for the future of the Seattle Majestics and the WNFC.

Rodney McCurry, who grew up in Federal Way, was a standout football player during his youth. He made a name for himself at Decatur High School before advancing to play college football.

"I was kind of that guy where the neighborhood thinks you're going to make it, and then you didn't," McCurry reflected. Coaching became his way to stay connected to football after his playing days ended, and he began coaching high school football at 25. His dedication has paid off, as he now coaches pro-level players in the women's league—a career path he never imagined when he first started.

"Honestly, the women's game has actually made me grow as a coach," McCurry explained, noting that his skills and experiences in the WNFC have positively influenced his high school coaching.

"With the women, you definitely have to be a little more patient; you have to tell the 'why," McCurry said. "You have to show more than what you have to do with the boys. Taking that, I use it with my boys as well, and I've learned a whole lot."

Continuing, he said, "For instance, I have a couple of defensive coaches and stuff like that on my boy's team, and we just had a coaches meeting because we're kicking off spring ball, and it was a lot of that, a lot of, 'hey, let's be patient with them. We don't have to yell; we don't have to scream. Let's take the passion and put it more towards your delivery rather than voicing it out.' That way, they can hear the words rather than hear the yelling. I learned all that from the women's game."

As for the Seattle Majestic, the team has been around since 2002.

"It was sort of just like a club league leading up to the two major leagues in the United States that hold women's tackle football to a professional level," McCurry said.

The WNFC was established in 2018 by Odessa Jenkins, the head coach of the Texas Elite Spartans, one of the league's dominant teams. They will soon face off against the Seattle Majestics in an eagerly anticipated matchup.

"We consider ourselves, and we're rated as the highest level of women's professional football," McCurry said. "We're literally the women's National Football League. We're just like and equivalent to it."

The Seattle Majestics joined the Women's National Football Conference (WNFC) in 2019. Although the team and the league have grown, McCurry emphasizes that the journey has been challenging.

"We've been struggling a little bit in the league because of the dynamic of the business the WFNC wants you to have, and so finances and organizational stuff and finding good players and free agents and having those resources to be able to take these free agents on," McCurry said. "We have a fantastic organization that we have put together this past year. This is my first year coaching. We have a designated CEO. We have a designated CFO. We have a designated COO. They just do their job, and the head coach does their job as well. So we're definitely building a foundation for young ladies."

Regarding recruitment and player development, McCurry emphasizes the existence of a pipeline that allows talented young women to join the league and showcase their abilities.

"Just this past year, they said that 64,000 girls joined football for the first time. That includes rec league, flag, club, flag, high school flag, and then, of course, tackle football," McCurry said. "We're at the professional level. So, we do have tryouts. We do want to evaluate some of the best talent. We don't just take anybody."

Despite the league's competitive nature, the WNFC is investing in talent recruiters and development programs to cultivate strong athletes and elevate the overall quality of play.

"We get them in and put them in the weight room. We have a mentality coach. We have a career coach. We have a speed coach. We feel like that's the best way to develop great talent," McCurry said. "We also have a lot of multi-sport athletes. As you know, women don't have a whole lot of professional sports outside of college. We have a college volleyball player, some college softball players, and a professional kicker who's one of the best kickers in the WNFC. We are definitely trying to translate everything else into a football game and put them in the right positions to help them succeed."

As for the WNFC and building up the Seattle Majastics as a franchise, McCurry highlights that while it will take time, it's well on its way.

"Right now, we're on a couple of networks that stream us, and we're supposedly getting profit shares back," McCurry said. "Once we get a big enough pot of the profit shares and are able to pay the organizational part of what we're doing, then we can start paying players out.

Continuing that point, McCurry highlights the leagues' difference from its male counterparts: billion-dollar investments and partnerships from outside organizations.

"Once we get to that place, then we can pay our players and w, want to get to that point," McCurry. "The unfortunate part of this whole thing is that the sacrifice these ladies make, not only to their bodies but their time, and you know, everything else they're giving to the program, they're not paid. In the five years of the WNFC, where we are at is the closest we've been to getting our payers paid. I think in the next three years, we're going to start having some type of contracts issued out to some of our players."

Visit the Seattle Majestics website here to stay in the loop with the team and find out details on their roster and upcoming games. The team will also play against the Texas Elite Spartans in the Western Conference Playoffs from June 6th to 8th in Las Vegas. For those who cannot make the trip, you can stream it live on Caffeine TV!

For more on rising organizations like the WNFC, tune into Trae every weekday at 11 a.m. on all Converge Media platforms and The Day With Trae YouTube Channel.