The head coach of the Lincoln baseball team might be unfamiliar to area fans, but his assistant coach is the exact opposite.
After several years in the dugout of the Helias Crusaders, Steve Bell has found his way onto the Blue Tigers' coaching staff.
It didn't take long for first-year head coach Mike DeMilia to find his new assistant in a man he calls "quite a character."
"Coach Bell found us," DeMilia said. "The day I got hired, (Lincoln athletic director) Betty (Kemna) told me there was somebody from Jeff that was looking to coach a little college baseball.
"I didn't know too much about him and one day we just sat in the office and talked, and I immediately figured out he was a guy we wanted."
Bell not only brings baseball knowledge to the Blue Tigers, but a very important intangible.
"The biggest thing he brings is he's a guy that will keep the dugout loose," DeMilia said. "We need that, because I'm not necessarily always that guy.
"And I learned a little bit late in my coaching career that that's how you have to play. You can't be all tight and serious and focused. You've got to have a little fun. I've told him, "When things start getting tight, you're the guy who has to keep things loose.'"
DeMilia said he doesn't expect the change from high school to college to be tough for Bell.
"It's a little bit of an adjustment to coaching at this level, but it's not a huge one," DeMilia said. "Especially coming from Helias, where he was always coaching good talent. And coaching with (Helias head coach Chris) Wyrick, he knows what he's doing. He was around good people.
"I think he's a huge addition for us. You never know until you get into it, but I think he's going to be great."