Dave Nottke arrived at the University of Toledo in the fall of 1989 as a simple freshman from Bellevue, Ohio, and he never left campus until Wednesday night.
If ever there was a Mr. Toledo, it was — and remains — Nottke, who began his career as a student manager for the men’s basketball program and retired as deputy athletic director.
He was a confidante to ADs, a sounding board for coaches, and an aide to boosters.
“This has been my life for 33 years,” the 51-year-old Nottke said. “I have keys for locks and doors that don’t even exist anymore.”
As a basketball manager, Nottke went on his first flight (to picturesque Ames, Iowa) and spent a week in Hawaii when the Rockets played in the Maui Invitational. With a double major in recreation administration and physical education, he planned on being the director of a local recreation department or a high school athletic director. But then-associate AD Tim Selgo had other ideas.
Nottke was offered a jack-of-all-trades role as a graduate assistant, working in the compliance office, assisting in academic advising for the basketball program, and helping with gameday operations, all while pursuing his MBA.
Three weeks after starting, there was an opening in ticketing and marketing. Nottke left for the university development office in 1996, only to return to athletics nine months later for an annual giving position. He never left the department again, rising to deputy AD in 2016.
“It’s the relationships,” Nottke said. “This is a people business. It’s about those friendships you build with people. I’ve always believed in what athletics provides through a university. I’ve seen firsthand what it does for young people. It’s always fun when you see a freshman come in here and they get on the elevator, and they’re scared to death. They put their head down and don’t say a word.
“By the time they’re a senior, they don’t shut up. You see how they've grown and you see their personality. You see them leave and they have a great career. They become a great husband or a great wife and a good parent. You see why college athletics is so valuable and what it does for young men and women.”
Toledo saw Nottke’s worth any time a major project took place. Whether it was upgrades to the Glass Bowl, Savage Arena, or the Larimer Athletic Complex, or the construction of the Fetterman Training Center, Nottke was involved. And his enthusiasm and persistence allowed Toledo to complete those projects with nearly all private money.
Thirty-three years at any job is a long time. It’s especially long in college athletics. It’s unusual for someone to be successful in a prominent role at a Group of Five school and not move on. Nottke had opportunities to leave UT but never got the urge, mostly out of loyalty.
“I’ve never wanted to say someone is irreplaceable, but he’s darn close,” former Toledo AD Mike O’Brien said. “What he has done for that [athletic department] is unbelievable. He has an incredible ability of making someone feel like they are the most important person in the room. He did so many things in athletics that I’m certain I’m not even aware of because when he was given a task you never had to worry about it. It always got completed. Dave was the go-to guy.”
Before Bryan Blair even started as AD in May, he was having lengthy Zoom meetings with Nottke. Blair estimates that Nottke has been at his side 75 percent of the time the past four months, so much so that Nottke quickly learned Blair’s operational style and was one or two steps ahead of his new boss.
“He’s a key cog in his ability to build meaningful, authentic relationships,” Blair said. “That’s evident in how many people care about him and how many people feel he’s had a positive impact on UT athletics.”
A retirement party at Grogan's Towne Chrysler Jeep Dodge Ram, where Nottke reports for duty in a few weeks, attracted hundreds of people and shone a light on Nottke’s skills as a communicator and relationship builder.
“He knows everybody in Toledo,” women’s basketball coach Tricia Cullop said. “He’s one of the greatest connectors I have met at the university. He doesn’t need to look someone up. If I call him and ask how do I know this person, he knows who they are, where they work, and has probably known them for years. I remember the first year I was here just how many people he introduced me to, and he continues to do that. You’d be hard-pressed to find someone in town who doesn’t know who he is.”
The adoration and appreciation for Nottke is mutual, from football coach Jason Candle and men’s basketball coach Tod Kowalczyk to women’s golf coach Jenny Coluccio and men’s tennis coach Al Wermer.
Candle called Nottke “a pillar of stability on our campus” and “a shoulder for me to lean on.” Their relationship dates to Candle’s arrival as an assistant coach in 2009, and Nottke was intimately involved in Candle’s hiring as head coach. Kowalczyk called Nottke “one of the most likable people” involved in UT athletics, adding that “donors connected with him.”
“He’s going to be sorely missed,” Kowalczyk said.
That’s why Blair used the phrase “gut punch” to describe Nottke’s retirement.
“I don’t think you replace a Dave Nottke,” Blair said. “You hire people and try to build a team that, hopefully, can be as strong as he was through multiple efforts and organization and take new ideas and new energy and bring it to the table to build off the foundation that he and so many others laid.” (Al Tomlinson, a former Bowling Green football player and current associate AD for development at Texas, will fill Nottke’s role.)
What’s the single greatest moment in his 33 years at Toledo?
Nottke thought it was an impossible task to name just one.
Beating Michigan and Penn State in football is near the top of the list, as is the Arkansas upset, which took place on Nottke’s father’s birthday one year after his death. There were memorable men’s basketball victories over Michigan State and Ohio State, and the women’s basketball teams run to the WNIT championship. Numerous Bowling Green games across all sports stuck out.
Some people reading this — perhaps even a majority — might wonder why someone so young would surrender such a coveted job. While Nottke would never outright complain, the job’s requirements can be grueling — evenings, weekends, 65 hours a week.
Even though he works for the athletic department, it doesn’t mean Nottke can watch all the games. He estimates that he sees 25 percent of home football and basketball games.
“I’m actually looking forward to enjoying the games,” Nottke said. “When you have six football games or 15 men’s and women’s basketball games, you’re always on. You have a lot of demands and challenges that you have to be attentive to. Someone will say on Monday, ‘Hey, did you see that play?’ And I’ll say, ‘No, but I heard about it.’ Now I’ll really be able to sit down and watch the game as a fan.”
Nottke is keeping the same phone number just in case someone from the athletic department needs to contact him. And the communication might work in both directions.
“I’ll be a Rocket for life,” Nottke said. “I’ll continue to support the programs to the best of my ability, and if I sell a few cars, I’ll support them even more.”
First Published August 31, 2022, 7:47 p.m.
