It was a day that he should remember for the rest of his life. It was a day that completely changed his view of his young life. He was 15 years old and he had just found out that his parents were going to divorce. He spent the rest of the day in his bedroom sharing tears with his eleven-year-old brother. Yet, when asked, Todd Linklater, assistant baseball coach for the University of Dayton, says he remembers little of that day. Certainly a day that changed his life, but certainly not one he cares to dwell upon.

In the office that he shares with Jason Frazier, his fellow assistant coach under head coach, Tony Vittorio, Linklater has a poster on the wall that he reads almost daily to remind himself what is important in life. The poster reads, “The past is gone, the future is distant and the present is reality.” He is a firm believer in learning from the past, but not dwelling on it. It is important to stay positive, optimistic. Linklater is a competitor, first and foremost. To be successful on a daily basis, you have to be ready to give it you all everyday. If you become too entrenched in the past or the future, you will never succeed.

Todd was born into a household drenched in testosterone. He was the third of four boys that were driven by their father to compete. Sports were first and foremost in their household and Gerald Linklater made sure that each of his sons always gave 100% both on and off the field. He was hard on his children, with the hope of success always being the carrot.

“It was a very competitive family. It was all about athletics, basketball, baseball, football and a little bit of wrestling. My dad really moved us in that direction. It wasn’t forced on us, but was highly encouraged. My dad had played a lot of baseball and football growing up. You went hard or when you went home you would receive a lot of constructive criticism, which bordered on negative motivation. We might go 4 for 4 that day, but still hear about all the things that we didn’t do right. It was hard, but it probably motivated me. We never felt like we were good enough and if you can use it properly, it keeps you working to get better.”

Gerald often coached his sons in their sport and did whatever it took to win. If that included adding the right coach to his staff to allow the gifted athlete to follow his father to the team, so be it. Todd learned the importance of always competing, realizing that every play was important, no matter what the score. Even today he feels that his father was his biggest influence in sports.

Yet, when his father left, it was time for Todd to take on additional responsibilities. It is tough having the male influence in your life leave, but he was ready for this new challenge. Linklater relates, “I was at the point of my life that I was becoming a young man. I became focused on myself, trying to find out what I wanted to do with my life. I was closer to my mom after the divorce, but I was still close with my dad. A lot of what I am today is because of my dad. It (the divorce) created a great bond between my younger brother and me. He was 11 years old and I became that second father to him. I really did my best to help motivate him in both school and sports. We had a great relationship.”

As is so often the case, this hardship helped mature and motivate Linklater. It also brought him closer to his mother, Karen.

“God love my mom, she sacrificed a lot. She was the one that would always make us feel better after our dad would be critical of our play. We respected her a lot. Discipline was different with her. We made sure that we never crossed the line with her, not because of potential punishment, but because of who she was and how she treated us. She sacrificed a lot for us. She worked two jobs while we were in college. My dad helped, but she bore the greatest burden after the divorce.”

Linklater was never a big kid, but played both football and baseball while in college. Realizing that baseball was probably his better sport, he began to concentrate more and more on his abilities as a pitcher. Still capable of playing a little shortstop, he continued to learn the game both as a position player and as a pitcher, which was extremely helpful when he began his coaching career.

He was never going to be a star and he knew that. If he was going to be able to continue to be involved in sports, it was going to have to be through coaching. Todd remembers, “When I was a freshman in high school I knew I wanted to get into coaching. My freshman coach told me that I needed to get into coaching because I drove him nuts with questions. I always wanted to know the ‘why.’ I loved to break down the game. I was the ball boy for the high school football team when I was in the fifth grade. I was never as talented as my two older brothers, but I knew the game better because of my constant exposure growing up.”

It was his senior year in high school that Linklater met Tony Vittorio. Vittorio was in the process of transforming a team that had gone 2-48 just a few seasons before, into a team that would win 45 games in 1994. It was during their two seasons together at Lincoln Trail Community College that Vittorio and Linklater formed a bond that would eventually lead to a working relationship that has now reached seven years.

Lincoln Trail was just the first stop for Linklater and Vittorio. After receiving his Bachelor’s degree in History from Lake Forest College in 1996, Linklater went to work for Vittorio at IPFW in 1998. He continued to work on his skills in the classroom and received a Bachelor’s degree in Teaching from Indiana University in 1999. After two years at IPFW, Linklater followed Vittorio to the University of Dayton.

Linklater is certainly a disciple of Vittorio and has been an astute student through their mutual journey, yet is intelligent enough to know that everyone has their own best way of doing things. He describes their relationship; “I constantly take notes when I am working with Tony. It is a constant learning process. I have coached with him for seven years and I am still learning. I think the thing that I have learned more than anything is that you coach within your own personality. I am always developing my own philosophy.”

Linklater’s career has met with a good deal of success while at Dayton. Vittorio has been able to turn around a program that had floundered for decades. One of the big reasons for that success is the pitching staff. Linklater has been able to coax record setting performances out of players that were not heavily recruited. In 2002, the Flyers had the highest strikeout total in the 100-year history of the program. The 2003 squad followed that effort up with the second highest total. The 2002 squad featured four pitchers that would eventually play professional baseball after their education under Linklater. Mike Kerins set the career mark for wins. Mike Rolih and Aaron Pahs were named to the first and second All-A-10 Conference teams respectively. In addition, Sam Fischer was drafted by the Houston Astros in the Major League Draft.

Despite this success, being the number two man in a rising college baseball program isn’t enough for Linklater. Like almost all assistant coaches, he longs for the opportunity to run his own program, “I have no doubt that I am ready for the next step. If, and when I get my chance, my program will be run with a good deal of discipline. That is first and foremost.”

As part of his plan to succeed at a higher level, Todd has developed his own philosophy and it revolves around a set of core values, “The four core values of my program would be built around responsibility and obligation. Every student involved in the program will have a responsibly and an obligation to the university and the baseball team and to graduate in four years. Society has evolved to being one where everyone wants to know their rights and privileges instead of their responsibilities and obligations.

“The second is relentless and consistent effort in the classroom and on the playing field. I firmly believe that this is transferable from one to the other. It shows everyday. If you are slacking in the classroom, it will show on the field. The third is that every member of the team will display a sense of reliability and integrity beyond reproach in every phase of life. The last and most important is a radiant heart, every day, day in and day out no matter what you do, the passion.”

Linklater understands that championships are not won with words. There have been many companies that put together a great mission statement only to fall by the wayside because there was no solid plan to back it up

“Pitching builds programs and wins championships. I believe that you need to spend 60% of your scholarship money on pitching wherever you go. I would go with a mix of high school and junior college players depending on where the program stands. I would prefer more high school recruits because you have four years to mold them into the type of player and person that they can be. You have to be relentless while recruiting. The core values that I spoke of are not just what I expect from my players, but also from myself and my coaches.”

To the Realtor, the mantra is “Location, location, location.” To the coach it is “Recruiting, recruiting, recruiting.” Linklater is not a stranger to this philosophy. Yet, he realizes that it is impossible to pull championships out of a hat without the proper tools.

“The only way that you can win is with players. It doesn’t matter how good of a coach you are, you have to be able to recruit quality individuals both on and off the field. You have to get your program known. To get that done, you have to go where you are known and work with the people that know you. You have to get the players from your backyard. You cannot allow them to leave. You have to get community support. You have to dominate in the area, then the conference and then the region. You have to work to expand your contacts and have a greater reach.

You can’t expect to get the blue chippers your first year out there. You have to work with the second and third tier people in the beginning. After you begin to win, you can begin to successfully recruit the top tier. The name of the game is preserving the core values and not bend one inch. I firmly believe that those core values are your program. The long-term successful business like the P & Gs and the General Motors don’t change their core values. It is no different with a baseball program. Just because a guy is talented, you cannot let him do things that do not fit with your values.”

Baseball and coaching are certainly important in Linklater’s life, but it goes deeper than that. Just getting a job at the next level is not what drives him. If he is going to be the leader of young men, he wants to do it the right way; he wants to do it the way that it is done at the University of Dayton.

“I want to be part of an institution that academics matter and are not just lip service. I felt it was important to live that in my own life. I got my masters (Master’s degree in Educational Leadership from Dayton in 2002) to show that education is important to me and to the players I coach. Education has always been important to me. I love being at the level I am. It really gives me the opportunity to work with young men and teach them not only about baseball, but also about life. I want to inspire them in the classroom.”

There is that fine line that every coach has to follow. This isn’t Little League baseball where most of the dad’s are doing it so their kid can play shortstop. This is their job, this is their livelihood. They have to succeed or their name will be scratched of the glass on the door to their office and a new name will be painted on. They have to win; yet they have to nurture. It is not an easy choice for some. For others it is second nature.

“I think any coach tries to be a second father. You have to be ready to hug them, but not afraid to jump them when they need it. You have to be able to tell them what they are doing wrong. I think some coaches get it wrong when they think that they have to be their best friend. The assistant coach has to be that go-between when there needs to be some tough-love. There are some players that just don’t understand what tough love is. You have to help them understand what it is and why it is necessary. You have to teach the players to read between the lines and understand where the head coach is coming from. The coach can be the father figure, but it has to be professional.”

I have two young sons that love the game of baseball more than anything else. They eat baseball, they talk baseball, they sleep baseball. I can only hope that one day there will be a Todd Linklater out there that will take them under his wing and teach them what is truly important in life.