Over the past two years, Peddie’s wrestling program has grown substantially, becoming a larger presence in our school’s winter athletics. At the heart of that growth is Coach Frank, whose emphasis on team culture, accountability and quiet leadership has shaped Peddie wrestling as it is today.
Coach Frank has taught and coached at Peddie for the past 11 years. He has been a history teacher throughout his time here, having taught ninth, tenth and eleventh grade. “As teachers, we are under a lot of the same demands as you are as students,” Coach Frank notes. He recognizes that Peddie requires a lot from its students in every aspect of their lives, and this translates into his coaching.
According to Coach Frank, positive team culture is central to the program’s success. Not only does he strive to address issues as they arise, but he also celebrates moments where people put the team first.
He believes athletes are motivated when they care about the sport and the people they compete with. He recalled advice from a mentor: “The kids won’t care until they know how much you care.” Even if it’s not perfect, he wants each member to feel valued. Coach Frank understands the importance of putting the team first from his own experience. In college, he was recruited for football and started in the offensive line, but when his team needed defensive players, he switched to help despite his preferences.
With positive team culture comes accountability. He described two methods of holding members of a team accountable: the blunt tool and the surgical approach. The blunt tool is a standard, all-encompassing reaction to every occurrence. The surgical approach is a personalized, individual response to each situation. He expressed that this second approach may be difficult at times, but it is vital to ensuring he is helping students be the best version of themselves. He remembers his priorities and said he “chooses his battles.” He recalled his own career as a student-athlete, which defines his approach to different situations, and allows him to appropriately handle different kinds of circumstances.
The daily reality of practices might seem mundane, as repetition of fundamentals is key to the sport. Coach Frank aims to keep practices interesting, with each practice closing with a game. He truly believes that “You don’t rise to the occasion; you fall to your level of training.”
Coach Frank expressed that his favorite part of wrestling is duels because of the display of team effort. “Simply put, wrestling duels are neat because the team is counting on each other for a successful outcome,” he said. Since being a wrestler from elementary to college himself, he has always admired when everyone on the team contributes to a collective goal.
Coach Frank leads by example. He jogs alongside his wrestlers during warm-ups and picks up the extra sled in the weight room. Coach Frank said participating in practices helps him understand what he asks of his athletes. He added, “As much as I can, I like to practice with the team.”
Coach Frank emphasizes “training for the rest of your life.” He knows that most student-athletes will not wrestle beyond high school, but the endurance built in the room will stick with wrestlers. He said “it’s the most difficult things we do that build resilience and grit.”
He believes the challenges of wrestling prepare student-athletes to lead the way in other areas of their life. Coach Frank remembers alumni reflecting fondly on their time wrestling at Peddie. They tell stories about what it’s meant to them, and how it’s prepared them for life long term. He hopes every student will take the values and disciplines they learned with them after they move on from high school.
