Quantcast
skip navigation

From guard to tackle

By JIM PAULSEN, Star Tribune, 09/29/11, 10:09PM CDT

Share

Kelly Lund is a rarity, but to Irondale's linemen, she's simply a coach who demands respect.


Kelly Lund, a 2004 graduate of Irondale High, grew up wanting to play football. She never got the chance, but now she’s assistant offensive line coach for her alma mater. Jerry Holt, Star Tribune

Sandwiched in a scrum of Irondale High School linemen, Kelly Lund has no time for dawdling. "Ball here!'' she yells. "Here. Let's go.''

From 20 yards away, a receiver flings the football. Lund, a former Oak Park Heights prison guard, instinctively reaches up and snatches it out of the air.

The helmeted, hulking players take notice. "Nice grab.'' "Whoa.''

Lund strides purposefully, places the ball and barks out instructions as assistant offensive line coach. Few women in Minnesota coach high school football in any capacity, and Lund is perhaps the only one working with the game's biggest and most physical players. But she quickly has developed a reputation for being the team disciplinarian.

Lund, 25, grew up wanting to play football, even circling camps in the local paper, but never getting to play. She developed skill in basketball, which she played for four years in college. Most recently she volunteered in Irondale's strength and conditioning program, where she worked with football players and others.

She said she's not concerned with setting a trend or making a statement about gender roles.

"I understand that I have a lot to learn," she said. "But I think if you care about kids, it comes through. For now, I'm just focusing on the things that coaches do in all sports, like making sure they hustle and are on time and things like that. And I'm learning the football part."

Female high school football coaches are few, and those who coach the line fewer still. Beulah Verdell has coached special teams for nearly 20 years at Minneapolis North. Nationally, schools in Washington, D.C., and Mesa, Ariz., list women as head coaches.

"It's still very rare," said Jim Dotseth, the secretary/treasurer and resident historian of the Minnesota High School Football Coaches Association. He recalled one other -- Jeannie Siler -- at Minneapolis Henry in the early 1980s.

Irondale head coach Ben Geisler was acutely aware of that rarity before the season began. Lund, a 2004 Irondale graduate, caught his eye during the summer conditioning program, where she worked with boys and girls.

"I watched how well she related to the football players," said Geisler. "I thought 'Kelly would make a really good coach.' I've always said I can teach a coach the X's and O's. I wanted someone who loves kids, is a good person on and off the field and cares about Irondale. She was a Division I athlete. She knows what it takes."

In hiring Lund, Geisler said he was less concerned about player and coach reaction than he was about how it would put a spotlight on her.

"I was actually hoping to keep it quiet,'' he said. "So far, I haven't heard too much. A couple of parents were curious, but no one has challenged me on it. And that's a credit to Kelly. She's done a great job." 


Irondale offensive line coach Kelly Lund runs a drill during practice. Jerry Holt, Star Tribune

Hitting home with players

Lund admits she was surprised when Geisler approached her about a job in a sport she never had played.

"I watched it like a fan, following the ball,'' she said. "But I knew it would be a great challenge, so I jumped at it."

Lund's duties came in small doses at first. She is the Knights' in-game time-keeper. She's created a niche in keeping sideline morale high. She's also the first to notice players not hustling and has no qualms about letting them know.

"She's already become the toughest coach I have," Geisler said.

Lund's own toughness was honed by a nearly year-long stint at the men's prison.

"It was awful. You get no respect,'' said Lund, no pushover at 5-11. "I knew I had to leave when I went out to my car one time and the wiper blades came on and I jumped. I was getting skittish."

The stress level is different now. Lund spends hours going over film and asking questions of Geisler and first-year offensive line head coach Jason Blinn.

"It takes me five or 10 minutes to break down every play because I'm still unfamiliar with what I'm seeing," she said. "It is a big time commitment."

Lund being a novice is a positive for Blinn.

"As a new coach, I got to try out my coaching techniques on her before I did it with the players. And not having a football background, she asked questions that I never would have thought of," Blinn said. "She has a different way of describing things that hits home a little more with the players."

For players, "It was a little different at first," said Knights' starting center Ben Betker. "But we have a lot of respect for her. We just see her as another coach."

'It clicked for me'

In Irondale's week 3 loss at Hopkins, Lund said, she realized she had made the right decision.

"There was a moment in that game when Betker came off the field and we connected," she said. "He was playing amazing and we just gave each other a head nod. That's when it clicked for me. I thought 'I know what this is all about.'"

Off the field, Lund attends St. Mary's University, pursuing a master's degree in counseling and hoping to work with young people.

Coaching football has given her insights not found in the classroom.

"I have a love for sports and a love for kids," she said. "I'm becoming a better coach and a more well-rounded person. I've gotten to know different genders better. So far, I love it and I'll do it as long as I can. And I know down the road, I will look back and know this was a great experience."

KELLY LUND FILE

High school: All-conference volleyball and all-state basketball player at Irondale in 2004.

College: Played basketball at the University of Northern Iowa in 2005 and 2006. Transferred to Concordia of St. Paul in 2007 and 2008. Graduated with a degree in criminal justice.
 
Day-to-day: Lund is a nanny in the morning, coaches football in the afternoon and attends class at St. Mary's University in the evening.
 
Coaching history: JV girls' basketball at Irondale and girls' basketball coach for the Minnesota Heat AAU club program.
 
Why coach football? "I've always loved football. When I was little and the local paper used to come out with camps and signups, I always circled the football camps and things. But I wasn't allowed to play."

Related Stories

Most Popular Stories