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Grand View University is known for its wide range of athletic programs and the history surrounding each program. When new athletes come to GV in the fall each year, many of them are hoping to make a “family” with their new teammates. There is one family in particular at GV that is well known for its love and decades of dedication to the university and its programs, the Yacinich family.  

The Yacinich family is known for their involvement in GV’s athletics over many generations, even today Lou Yacinich Sr. and Lou A. Yacinich have been making an impact on the GV baseball and softball programs. Lou Yacinich Sr. better known as “Forty,” started his college baseball career at Grand View College. He then moved on to play baseball at Drake University and obtained his bachelor’s and master’s degrees there. It was after his time at Drake that Forty knew he wanted to stay in the world of baseball and came back to his roots to coach at GV.  

“When I graduated from Drake University, I knew I wanted to make coaching a career,” Forty said. “I just realized, you know what… I am majoring in physical education for a purpose, and I want to coach. I was athletic oriented. Athletics got me my degree.”  

Little did he know he would fall in love with coaching so much that he would still be coaching 50 years later.  

Forty was the first baseball coach at GV when it changed from college to university status. He took over the program and never looked back. Throughout his years coaching baseball at GV, Forty brought the baseball program to a state championship in 1974, two state runner-ups in 1975 and 1976, seven District 15 titles, seven Midwest Collegiate Conference Championships, participated four times in the 1st round of the National Championship and competed in the NAIA World Series three times.  

“I really liked junior college sports because they were much stronger than many other levels. I just enjoyed that level; you can go to a junior college and if you’re good enough, you’re there for a purpose,” Forty said. 

On and off of the field, Forty believes in earning your keep. He prefers his athletes to call him “Forty” because they need to earn the privilege to reference him as Lou.  

Forty said, “I started wearing the jersey number 40 a long time ago, and I always give all my young freshmen the idea that you have to earn knowing my regular name to use it, and I usually tell them only after you graduate you can call me ‘Lou’ if you want.” 

According to Jeff Lamp, a junior on the GV baseball team, this same concept of earning things applies even for the hats they wear on the field.  

“When players first get to GV, they aren’t allowed to get their baseball hats until after the fall season when, and if, they have earned the right to get one, in the classroom and on the field,” Lamp said.  

Forty’s goal is to embed the meaning and morals behind the baseball program and being a student athlete. Forty knows he only has two to four years to coach each athlete and make an impact on their life. Although Forty knows he cannot satisfy every player, he wants to give a good experience to every athlete he mentors. 

“If all of a sudden you come to Grand View University, and you’re trying to play in the athletic programs and someone is starting ahead of you, that can be tough. But what happens is, a good athlete and good person will do everything they can to challenge their teammates, because if they’re good enough to be there, then that makes a winner,” Forty said.  

When Forty took over the baseball program at GV, the community college was transforming into a four-year institution.  

“One of my greatest memories was during the pre-game infield, my cousin and I would go out behind second base and shortstop, and we would pick up all the balls that were left behind on the field from the team, and my dad (Forty) would hit us a fly ball that we would catch and run in,” Yacinich said.  

Growing up on the East side of Des Moines and watching his father coach baseball had always been a part of Lou’s life.  

“When I was a kid growing up, I always thought I was going to be a professional baseball player. But it didn’t happen. The older I got I just realized that I was pretty limited in my skills,” Yacinich said.  

He realized this when he went to an Olympic Baseball Trial in Omaha, Nebraska. During the duration of the trial, he came to the realization that his skills may not have been ready for that level of play. Despite that, over the years Yacinich developed into a skilled baseball player and seperated himself from the stereotype of having a “stern father for a coach.” Yacinich said his father never had negative comments to say about his performance during each of the games throughout his career.  

“What is really interesting about it is, he never really critiqued my play throughout my career. He was there if I wanted him,” Yacinich said. 

With so much time spent in baseball and the history behind the sport within the family, Yacinch never strayed away from his roots by becoming a high school and then college softball coach during the same time of participating in his own fast-pitch career.  

Yacinich never planned on being a coach when he got older. It all started naturally when one of his men’s fast-pitch teammates became the head softball coach at Valley High School and asked Yacinich to join him as the assistant coach. 

“That turned into coaching my oldest daughter, Courtney, and then I moved on to coach Urbandale High School, then this job [at GV] opened up and I was able to get this. So it was a weird route,” Yacinich recalled.  

Throughout Yacinich’s coaching career, he has been able to establish a culture within his teams and has helped bring the GV softball program to eight qualifiers for the NAIA National Tournament. Yacinich says it is important to remember what he wants his teams known for and how they will be held accountable on and off the field.  

“Eliminate drama, and play tough” is what both Yacinich’s and their teams strive for.