Power of Caring
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Mom knows best

Former shot putter turns high school football coach

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Posted: Thursday September 02, 1999 02:14 PM

Carol Frost helped coach her son Scott (above), who now plays safety for the New York Jets. Scott Halleran/Allsport

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) -- High school football players are used to seeing mothers around, watching games, cheering, worrying. They're just not used to having someone's mother coach them.

So when Larry Frost was hired as football coach at Shenandoah High School and announced that his wife, Carol, would coach the wide receivers and defensive ends, the players weren't quite sure what to expect.

They knew both Frosts had coached their son, Scott, who starred at Nebraska as a quarterback and now plays safety for the New York Jets. But still, this was something different for Shenandoah.

"Before she came, we kind of talked with each other and were kind of joking around," senior receiver Zach Tuggle said. "We didn't know what she could do. Then we saw her actually throw a pass and saw her throwing with her son. We could see she knows what she's doing."

The Frosts went to Shenandoah from Wood River, Neb., where they had been coaching for 10 years. Larry Frost chuckled as he recalled the players' reaction to Carol when practice began.

"They all rolled their eyes for a few days, but after a week of watching her throw and listening to her teach and coach, that just ended," Larry Frost said. "I honestly believe the publicity the whole thing got when Scott was quarterbacking Nebraska helped us.

"There's as many Big Red fans around here as there are Iowa and Iowa State. I think the kids already knew about her, the community was prepared for it. Every game Scott was on TV they talked about his mom coaching him. So it's gone real well."

Carol Frost said she was so involved in her coaching she didn't even notice how the players reacted.

"It's actually never been a problem because I've been the head coach of boys in track and I'll be head boys' coach here," she said. "I always feel like if you kind of know what you're doing, the kids don't care."

Besides, Carol Frost said, the players have been so busy trying to learn the new offensive and defensive schemes that "they don't have time to be worried about who's teaching them."

They also don't have to worry if their new coach has a strong enough arm to get the ball to them in practice.

Carol Frost was an Olympic shot putter, finishing 10th at the 1968 Games in Mexico City.

This summer, she won the shot put and discus in the women's 50-54 age group at the Cornhusker State Games. Frost said she can still throw a football 40 yards or so, and she can catch it as well.

"It's kind of funny because the first time I ever step on the field with a new group of kids, they kind of want to just toss the ball back to me. They're afraid to throw it back to me because they're afraid I can't catch the ball," she said.

"But I would say it's close to a million passes I've caught from Scott over the years. It was always, 'Mom, do you want to go play catch?' And I think he throws a little bit harder ball than these kids."

 

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