&t;br&gt Not long ago Tom Wentzler, a former Lea College student, brought in an article from the Aug.

Friday, January 12, 2001

Not long ago Tom Wentzler, a former Lea College student, brought in an article from the Aug. 14, 2000, issue of Sports Illustrated. This article was about &uot;The Nicest Team in Football.&uot;

That team happens to be the &uot;Lutes&uot; of Pacific Lutheran University of Tacoma, Wash. And there’s an interesting local connection with two of the

coaches and the quarterback of this year’s team. In fact, this trio was featured and pictured in the Feb. 27, 2000, issue of the Tribune as part of the Profile Edition.

The head coach of the Lutes is Forrest &uot;Frosty&uot; Westering.

From 1966 to 1972 he was the head coach of the Lea College Lancers football team. His son, Scott Westering, who attended school here in Albert Lea, has been the Lutes offensive coordinator since 1984.

And what may be somewhat unusual in college football, there was a third generation member of this family on the Lutes team this year. He’s Frosty’s grandson and Scott’s nephew, Chad Johnson. Chad’s mother, Holly, graduated from Albert Lea High School in 1970. His father, Jim Johnson, is also an Albert Lea High School graduate.

Frosty is considered to be one of the nation’s top football coaches, part of the very exclusive group who have won more than 250 games. His updated record for 36 years of coaching (28 years at Pacific Lutheran, six years at Lea College, and two years at Parsons College in Fairfield, Iowa) is 286 wins, 86 losses and seven ties.

When I wrote about the Lutes and the Westerings back in February, the team was the new NCAA Division III champions. Frosty told me that in 1999 it took five extra games and 16,000 miles of travel to achieve this honor.

One tough opponent in the playoffs that year was Wartburg College of Waverly, Iowa, Another formidable opponent was St. John’s University of Collegeville. This game resulted in a 19-9 victory for the Lutes. The final game of the 1999 season was played on Dec. 17 in Amos Alonzo Stagg Stadium in Salem, Va.

The Lutes defeated the team from Rowan University of Glassboro, N.J., with a score of 42-13 to win the Division III title.

This year the defending champions had another winning season with the regular schedule.

Again in the playoff sequence,

one of the opponents would be Minnesota’s &uot;Johnnies&uot; from St. John’s University.

Incidentally, the St. John’s team is coached by John Gagliardi. He happens to be another member who is on the short and exclusive list of football coaches who have won 250 or more games during their careers.

This game between Pacific Lutheran and St. John’s was played on Nov. 25, 2000, in Tacoma at Sparks Stadium. According to information faxed to the Tribune by Nick Dawson, sports information director for Pacific Lutheran University, the game was &uot;played in miserable cold and rainy weather.&uot; The Johnnies won this game in overtime with an intercepted pass which resulted in a final score of 28-21.

This was also the final college game for senior Chad Johnson, Frosty’s grandson.

St. John’s University went on to play NCAA Division III championship game on Dec. 16, 2000, in the Amos Alonzo Stagg Stadium in Salem, Va. Their opponent was Mount Union College of Alliance, Ohio, The Johnnies lost this game with a score of 10-7. Thus, Mount Union is the new NCAA Division III champion, replacing Westering’s Lutes.

The Sports Illustrated article brought in by Tom Wentzler was based in part on Frosty’s philosophy of good sportsmanship. He’s quoted as saying, &uot;In this country the only way we know how to succeed was to be Number One. That’s the way we grew up.&uot;

In another part of the article Frosty expresses his opposition to the mind-set described as &uot;Number One or No One.&uot;

The author of this article wrote, &uot;Frosty encourages his players to avoid the winning-is-everything trap by competing not against their opponents but against their ‘best selves,’ (to be) the best players they can be.&uot;

And because of Frosty’s superb leadership, the Lutes of Pacific Lutheran University have earned the title of the NCAA’s most courteous football team.

Feature writer Ed Shannon’s column appears Fridays in the Tribune.