Oct. 25, 2006
NORMAL, Ill. -
Retired college football coach, Frosty Westering, does exactly what his popular motivational book is all about - he makes the big time where he is. That is part of the message that Westering will share with Illinois State student-athletes at the State Farm Student-Athlete Academic Excellence Banquet, held on Sunday, Nov. 5 at 6 p.m. at Redbird Arena.
Illinois State Director of Athletics Dr. Sheahon Zenger has known Westering for years and believes in the message Westering will share as the night's guest speaker.
"Frosty Westering is one of the people in my life that I consider a true mentor," said Zenger. "To be able to bring him to Illinois State University, to interact with our student-athletes, our staff, our community, it is truly a dream come true.
"This is one of the passions that I feel for being a director of athletics and that is to impart a certain degree of core values unto our student-athletes and help point them in the right direction toward becoming better people each and every day. I cannot think of a person who is better at sharing that vision than Frosty Westering."
Specializing in motivation and psychology, Westering became popular for his success as the head football coach at Pacific Lutheran University, in Tacoma, Wash. A former full professor at Pacific Lutheran, he holds his doctorate in education and is in high demand as a motivational keynote speaker and seminar leader at local, regional and national conferences.
Westering, who authored the 1990 book, "Make the Big Time Where You Are," has received lifetime achievement awards from the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and Athletes for a Better World. He and his wife, Donna, were the recipients of the John and Nell Wooden Humanitarian Hall of Fame Award in 2004. His most recent honor was the prestigious induction into the National Football Foundation College Hall of Fame in South Bend, Ind., in 2005.
Westering is one of the top-10 winningest coaches in college football history. He is a member of a highly select group of outstanding coaches who have won over 300 games. He finished his coaching career with 305 victories and a winning percentage of .761.
Westering's teams won four national college division championships and he has been voted the national coach of the year, three times. A six-time conference coach of the year honoree, Westering coached 26 first team all-Americans, was named 1999 AFCA National Coach of the Year and was a member of the Hula Bowl coaching staff in 2000.
