You’ve probably never heard of Coach Frosty Westerling, but for five decades he won football games in the shadow of his obscurity – Lots of games. Frosty is a member of a select fraternity: college coaches who have won at least 300 games. This elite group includes such legendary names as Eddie Robinson, Paul “Bear” Bryant, “Pop” Warner, Amos Alonzo Stagg, Joe Paterno, Bobby Bowden and Tom Osborne.
Forrest Edward “Frosty” Westerling (December 5, 1927 – April 12, 2013), coach of Pacific Lutheran University’s football squad from 1972 – 2003, was a winner by anyone’s standards. After his arrival at PLU, excellence was the trademark of the EMAL (“Every Man A Lute”) football. Pacific Lutheran’s football program was smaller than many high schools. In fact, Sparks Stadium, where the Lutes play their home games in Tacoma, Washington, seats just 4,500 fans and is owned by the local public school district. Despite coaching in such an little known venue, Frosty Westerling’s team accomplishments were nothing short of phenomenal. His overall record at PLU was a staggering 261-70-5 (.784 winning percentage) and no PLU team under his guidance ever suffered a losing season. Westerling coached 26 NAIA and NCAA First Team All-Americans, and with him at the helm PLU appeared in 15 NAIA Division II national playoffs from 1979-97. They also won NAIA Division II national titles in 1980, 1987 and 1993 and finished as national runner-up in 1983, 1985, 1991 and 1994. In addition, Frosty’s teams advanced to the Division III playoffs in four of PLU’s six years as an NCAA member and in 1999 they won the NCAA Division III championship.
As singular and laudable those achievements are, what is most notable about what Westerling did is how he did it. He did not recruit. He had no training rules. He never punished or insulted his players, and he never kicked anybody off his teams. There were full-contact drills only twice before each season started, and his practices were always accentuated with friendliness. They included popsicle breaks, interludes for watching the sunset and cheers for the snowy flanks of Mount Rainier, which looms over the tiny campus. During the last practice session before the 1993 championship game, Lute linemen kicked field goals; quarterbacks ran wide receiver’ patterns; and linemen tried to throw deep.
The Lute’s games were even more unorthodox. The players would not even put their pads on until minutes before kickoff. Sometimes during timeouts, instead of talking strategy, Westering played “paper, rock, scissors” with his squad. In huddles, his players held hands, and on the sidelines they sat together in a semicircle, like kids around a campfire. After games they would gather for several hours in the locker room, weeping, hugging and giving each other what they called bouquets. (“I just want to say, Mike, I love you. You played a great game today.”) At team dinners, Frosty would often lead his players in song, and then, after promising not to sermonize, launch into an extemporaneous sermon on self-esteem, fear of failure, goal setting or the importance of commitment.
Unlike the grandstanding and self-centered players that typify college and professional teams today, Westerling’s players did not swear, tussle or trash-talk. They never danced in the end zone or raised their fingers toward heaven to proclaim that they were Number 1. They helped each other to their feet, but they also helped up their opponents and complimented them on their performance. In commenting about this prevalent practice, assistant coach Scotty Kessler, an NAIA All-American defensive back for PLU in 1980 said, “Some teams thought it was just a psych job, but our guys were just being the kind of people Frosty taught them to be.”
Westerling always saw his purpose as a coach to be much more than simply producing winning teams. He was committed to producing fine football players who were also fine men. “Winning,” he said with neither irony or embarrassment, “is a by-product of learning to live decently.” To that end, Frosty was always more interested in “shaping players’ lives and influencing their hearts and minds” than he was about football. He emphasized what he referred to as the double-win philosophy: victory on the scoreboard and the satisfaction of playing to one’s personal potential. Frosty’s coaching and life principles are rooted in the human-potential movement. He would talk to his players at length about psychological mechanisms such as visualization, splicing, projection and centering. He would also take much of his teaching from the Bible and quoted it with ease.
Over the his many years as a successful coach, as his stature grew with his winning seasons, numerous larger collages and professional teams contacted Westerling about taking coaching positions. He declined every one of them. “The real work is right there,” he said, gesturing toward his players, “The truth is, you shouldn’t have to ‘go big or go home,’ You can go big and stay home. When the big time calls, there’s a decision to make. But the thing to remember is that the ‘big time’ isn’t necessarily the only big time. You can make the big time where you are. The BIG TIME is not a place. It is a STATE of HEART!”
Not long before he retired, Frosty authored a book he titled Make the Big Time Where You Are. It’s a great little book. In it one of the things he offers is the Five Secrets in MAKING an extraordinary life. They are:
MAKE it a good day – don’t look for good days, make everyday a good day – make the choice.
MAKE every day your masterpiece – do your best. Nobody can ask for more.
MAKE a greater individual commitment – Apply some MAGIC to your day. Close the gap on those around you. Become a self-starter.
MAKE memories – enjoy the journey.
MAKE friendship a fine art – Don’t take your friends for granted. Work at being a great friend.
“If it is to be, it is up to me.” – Frosty Westerling
Have an AWE-full weekend!
William J. “Bill” Bacqué