Coach Fraley and The Living Room That Shaped Us
By Jana N. Yost, M.A., APCC | Coach & Consultant
Scared. That’s the word that comes to mind when I think about walkng past Coach Fraley’s office as a collegiate athlete at Fresno State. Not dramatic fear, just the understanding that if you stepped into his space, you were going to be challeged. Coach Fraley had a lot to say, and most of it stuck. Without vision the people will perish. Integrity is who you are when no one else is looking. And his infamous yell of,”What in Sam Hell.” His words were not meant not to make you comfortable. They were meant to make you pay attention.
What many people did not see was how far his influence extended beyond the track and into a living room that quietly shaped all of us. Coach Fraley introduced me to Fellowship of Christian Athletes( FCA), and Monday nights at the Birchwood Condos became something special. The Living Room filled up quickly, week after week, with athletes from across campus. Softball, swimming, track and field, cross country, equestrian, tennis, men’s soccer, volleyball, football.
Athletes sat wherever there was space. On the couches. On the floor. Up the staircases. Around the kitchen table. Standing room only along the walls. New athletes were greeted with the welcome clap. More than sixty athletes crammed into a space never meant to hold that many people. Shoes everywhere. Conversations overlapping. And Mrs. Fraley in the kitchen making sure we were fed with a home cooked meal that felt like care, not obligation. The Living Room was loud, crowded, welcoming, imperfect, and somehow exactly what we all needed.
These nights mattered more than we realized at the time. The Gospel was shared simply, without pressure or performance. Faith was not forced. It was modeled. You could sit in that room exactly as you were and still belong. For many of us, The Living Room was the first place faith felt relational, rooted in consistency and hospitality rather than expectation.
Looking back now, I see how rare this kind of leadership is. Coach Fraley did not seperate athletics from character or faith from discipline. He taught us a high standard because it mattered. His impact did not end when our eligibility did. It followed us into adulthood, leadership, parenting and service. This past summer, a film was made about how Fellowship of Christian Athletes impacted my life, and Coach Fraley was the reason that story began.
I am deeply grateful for the entire Fraley family for opening their home, their table, and their lives to generations of athletes who needed exactly what was offered.
Coach Fraley, thank you for pushing me, for believing in me, and for opening your home and your heart to so many of us. You did not just coach athletes, but built people. And you helped build me.
