Head Coach, Austin Frank: Varsity Wrestling

Austin Frank started coaching in 2015 at Peddie and hasn’t looked back.

For Frank, the most rewarding part of coaching at Peddie is hearing from graduates and how the lessons they learned in the wrestling room enabled them to persevere through challenges later in life.

“There is no greater reward than watching these young people go on to achieve and be successful in life,” he said. “That’s what it’s all about.”

Frank said he bases his coaching philosophy on two quotes: “Training for the rest of your life” and “Always in the fight.”

“Training for the rest of your life” is a driving principle that revealed itself to Frank during his first year as Peddie’s head wrestling coach. It’s the team’s ultimate and absolute anchor point, he said.

“Training for the rest of your life” reflects how the challenges in wrestling will prepare the team’s student-athletes for the adversity they will inevitably face in life,” Frank said. “The discipline and persistence that is required in wrestling will propel them towards success in their friendships, marriages, professional careers, as parents, and so much more.”

“Always in the fight” traces its origins to an away match a few years ago when the team discovered it together.

Frank believes that athletics provided him access to an education at Wesleyan University that would have been otherwise impossible as a child who had grown up in a working-class industrial city in New Jersey. At the end of his undergraduate years, he wasn’t quite sure what he wanted to do with his life. Frank considered the military or becoming a career firefighter before entering the teaching profession.

Outside of Peddie, Frank is a volunteer firefighter in Hightstown. In the summer, he works as a sanitation worker for Hightstown’s public works department.

“I feel at home in these places, and serving the community keeps me grounded,” he said.

Frank’s mom inspires him every single day. “She’s a warrior,” he said.

“I’m just a simple guy trying to help these kids learn valuable life lessons through a sport that is uniquely positioned for the task,” he said. “I’m grateful for all the mentors and coaches who have taught me how to do this job well.”