COLUMBIA, MO. — March 5, 2019. Gary Link has been hired as interim athletic director at Fr. Tolton Catholic High School, effective immediately. Link succeeds Chad Masters, who recently resigned to become the varsity head football coach at St. John Vianney Catholic High School in St. Louis.
“We’re very pleased that Gary has agreed to step into this position at a critical time of the year,” said Deacon Dan Joyce, Tolton Catholic’s president.
“We have several important coaching positions we need to fill very soon, including a varsity head football coach spot,” Joyce said. “The fact that Gary knows our school and students, coupled with his experience in athletics as a player, coach and administrator, made him an ideal choice to come in and take care of the things we need to get done right now.”
Link said that his vision for the athletic department “is to prepare our students for life experiences after they graduate” from Tolton Catholic High School. “I believe my first responsibility should always be for the best interests of our students and our student athletes,” he said. “I will constantly do my best to listen to them with an open mind and to represent them on decisions involving them and the future of our school.”
Joyce said that Tolton will initiate a search for a permanent athletic director this Fall because there was inadequate time this Spring to complete the AD hiring process and timely fill all the coaching vacancies.
In addition to head varsity football coach, Tolton is recruiting three other head coach positions (head volleyball coach, head girls’ tennis coach, head dance coach) and an assistant volleyball coach.
Link has been employed at Tolton this school year as a teacher and basketball coach. This past season he was head coach of the junior varsity boys’ team and served as an assistant coach with the varsity boys’ team.
A member of the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame, Link spent 16 years with the University of Missouri’s athletic department as a special assistant to the athletic director (2001-2017) and was associate director of development (major gifts) for the Tiger Scholarship Fund (2001-2017). He was a player on the Missouri Tigers men’s basketball team in the 1970’s, serving as co-captain his senior year.