Kurtis Williams
Review staff writer

Coaching has been a long-time passion of Larry Doty’s. Serving as the men’s
head basketball coach for 22 years, he is the second longest tenured coach at Linfield College.
His coaching career began at age 16 as a coach for 8- and 9-year-olds in his hometown of West Linn, Ore. The Legion baseball team he was a part of hired its players to coach the youngsters, and Doty jumped at the chance.
“I had always been around sports,” Doty said. “They were looking for people to coach, and it looked like fun.”
Doty was not hyperbolizing when he said he was always around sports. From childhood to his four years as a student at Linfield, he played football, basketball and baseball.
“I got involved in sports at a young age,” he said. “I grew up in the ’60s and [attended] college in the ’70s, when kids were entertaining themselves. Before 800 cable channels and iPods, we played outside.”
As a Linfield basketball player, he was taught under Ted Wilson, the gymnasium’s current namesake. He was an influential person on Doty’s own coaching career, but not his sole inspiration.
“Nick Robertson used to be the head coach at Mac High School,” he said. “He is one of the winningest coaches in Oregon history.”
He left his own mark on the people he touched during his years on the sideline. Steve Taylor and Jeff Larson, who played for Doty during the last few years, are now coaching along side him. His son Dominic is in his second year as an assistant coach under his father.
After playing soccer at Santa Clara University, Dominic Doty returned home to explore his options and spend time with his family. He got an opportunity to coach on the men’s soccer staff but also jumped at the chance to coach with his father.
“Oh, more influential than he will ever know,” Doty said when asked about his father’s influence on him. “He is the one I grew up watching ever since I was young. I was around practices, listening to what he had to say.”
Larry’s coaching style changed drastically throughout the years. During his time at Linfield, he said there was no shot clock, no three-point line. That, he said, made it hard to nail down a specific coaching philosophy.
It was a little easier for Dominic to point out specifics about his dad’s coaching that make him successful.
“He’s always been a guy that tries to get the best out of his players, always working hard and always spirited,” he said. “He puts a lot of trust in his players. He does what he feels will give them the best chance to win.”
While he came to Linfield to play basketball, Larry excelled at all three sports. He even played professional football for a few years in Canada after graduating from Linfield.
His involvement in football actually steered him away from coaching the sport. He said he recognized the vast time and effort the coaches put in to their jobs.
After his years in the Canadian Football League, Larry decided to return to Oregon and put his bachelor’s degree in physical education to use. He became a director of Parks and Recreation and was an assistant coach for football, basketball and baseball at Hillsboro High School. Later, Doty was offered a head coaching position he could not pass up: It was at his alma mater, West Linn High School.
After four years, he began his run at Linfield. In the 2000-01 season, he led the ’Cats to the Northwest Conference title and made the playoffs for the first time since 1976, a team he played on.
This NWC title was the second for Linfield in three years, after a 21-year title drought for the program.
But regardless of his on-court tactics, Doty said he feels his program fits well in the small, liberal arts community.
“I think the basketball program represents the school well,” Doty said. “They go to class and behave well off the court.”