|  Now
retired Pacific Lutheran University football head
coach Frosty Westering is a member of a select fraternity:
college football coaches who have won at least 300
games. This group--a Who's Who of collegiate football--includes
Eddie Robinson, John Gagliardi, Paul "Bear" Bryant,
Charles "Pop" Warner, Amos Alonzo Stagg, Joe Paterno,
Bobby Bowden and Tom Osborne. Westering picked up
his 300th career victory in the second game of the
2003 season, adding to his legacy. Westering compiled
an incredible 305-96-7 overall record (.756 winning
percentage) in 40 seasons as a college coach.
Westering's long and storied career, which included
a 32-year tenure of winning teams at Pacific Lutheran,
was marked by continued excellence, leading to his
January 1995 induction into the NAIA Hall of Fame.
Westering, born on Dec. 5, 1927, came to PLU in
1972 after successful coaching stops at Parsons
College (Iowa) and Lea College (Minnesota). After
Westering's arrival at PLU, excellence was the trademark
of EMAL ("Every Man A Lute") football. In addition
to winning the 1999 NCAA Division III championship
(which it did by becoming the first team to win
five straight road games), Pacific Lutheran won
NAIA Division II national titles in 1980, 1987 and
1993 and finished as national runner-up in 1983,
1985, 1991 and 1994. His overall record at Pacific
Lutheran was a staggering 261-70-5 (.784 winning
percentage), and no PLU team under his guidance
suffered a losing season. Westering coached 26 NAIA
and NCAA First Team All-Americans, and with him
at the helm Pacific Lutheran appeared in 15 NAIA
Division II national playoffs from 1979-97. In addition,
his teams advanced to the Division III playoffs
in four of PLU's six years as an NCAA member (through
the 2003 season). In the decade of the 90s, PLU
compiled an impressive 93-19-2 record (.825 winning
percentage), ranking in the top 20 among gridiron
programs at all collegiate levels.
Excellence on the football field, however, was
only a by-product of Westering's overall life philosophy.
He emphasized a double-win theme: victory on the
scoreboard and the satisfaction of playing to one's
personal potential. Westering, a football letter-winner
at both Northwestern and Nebraska-Omaha and a Marine
drill instructor, has written a book, Make The Big
Time Where You Are, which deals with his double-win
philosophy.
Pacific Lutheran football players also portrayed
excellence in the classroom and in the community,
where they are role models for hundreds of youth
in the Parkland area through their personal involvement
at several Tacoma area schools. They annually donated
approximately 2,000 hours at the schools.
A full professor with a doctorate in Education
from the University of Northern Colorado, Westering
specializes in sports motivation and sports psychology
and is in high demand as a speaker at regional and
national gatherings. Westering is a member of the
Fellowship of Christian Athletes. He and his wife,
Donna, have five children and 13 grandchildren.
ACCOMPLISHMENTS / AWARDS / HONORS
- American Football Coaches Association 1999 NCAA
Division III Coach of the Year
- Football Gazette 1999 NCAA Division III Coach
of the Year
- 2000 Hula Bowl Coaching Staff
- Chevrolet and Shutt Sports 1999 Coach of the
Year
- 1999-2000 Lutheran Brotherhood Lutheran College
Coach of the Year
- Fellowship of Christian Athletes Lifetime Achievement
Award
- Athletes for a Better World Lifetime Achievement
Award
- Led PLU to NCAA Division III national championship
in 1999
- Member of NAIA Hall of Fame
- NAIA National College Football Coach of the
Year in 1983 and 1993
- Winningest coach in NAIA history with 256 career
wins
- Directed Lutes to seven NAIA Division II championship
games
- Won NAIA national championships in 1980, 1987
and 1993
- PLU's all-time winningest football coach with
261 victories
- Conference Coach of the Year in 1985, 1986,
1993 and 1998
- Northwest Small-College Coach of the Year in
1979, 1980, 1983, 1993 and 1998
- Coached 26 NAIA and NCAA First Team All-Americans
- Member of Iowa Collegiate Coaching Hall of Fame
- Two-time Tacoma News Tribune Man of the
Year in Sports
- Seattle Post-Intelligencer Publisher's
Award recipient in 2000
- Member Puget Sound Athletic Hall of Fame (inducted
in 2004)
- Author of book, Make
The Big Time Where You Are
PROFESSIONAL BACKGROUND
1952-56 . . . . . . . . Coach at Elkader (IA)
High School, 26-8-1
1956-60 . . . . . . . . Coach at Fairfield (IA)
High School, 21-13-2
1960-61 . . . . . . . . Athletic Director at Parsons
College (IA)
1962-64 . . . . . . . . Athletic Director/Coach
at Parsons College, 15-4-0
1964-66 . . . . . . . . Graduate School
1966-72 . . . . . . . . Athletic Director/Coach
at Lea College (MN), 29-22-2
1972-2003 . . . . . .Coach at Pacific Lutheran
University, 261-70-5
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