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."