Dan and Dave Schmotzer are products of the rock ’n’ roll era – they love just about anything from the Rolling Stones or Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band.

But the Schmotzers’ love of music isn’t all these twin brothers have in common. Besides their mannerisms and sense of humor, their biggest common trait is a love of teaching, mentoring and coaching.

For most of the last two decades, the 56-year-old twin brothers have been the men’s basketball and baseball coaches at Coker College in Hartsville, South Carolina.

Dan is in his 21st season as the men’s basketball coach and a winner of 275 games. Dave will enter his 17th season as the school’s only coach in baseball program history. Of his 556 career coaching victories, 471 have come leading the Cobras.

But the number of wins and losses pales in comparison to the impact they’ve had on the lives of the students they’ve coached.

And it’s all been done with a touch of flair that is unmistakable to those around the Coker campus.

“Everything from the way we talk, our jokes, our attention to detail and how we deal with our teams is similar,” said Dan Schmotzer, who has a goatee to help others distinguish him from his brothers. “Even our hobbies are the same. As we get older and look at this, all you can say is, ‘This is pretty fun.’ ”

Dan was the first to join Coker in 1987 after serving as an assistant basketball coach at TCU for 10 years. Dave was also an assistant baseball coach at TCU for nine seasons, and he left the same year to become a head coach at Union College in Kentucky for three years.

When Coker decided to add baseball, Dave interviewed and got the job.

“It’s not something where we said, ‘Let’s be together for the rest of our lives,’ ” Dave said. “It just snowballed. In hindsight, it has been a pretty good trip. Our families are here, and Coker is a special place. It’s our UCLA.”

Most people on campus just refer to them as Coach Dan or Coach Dave.

And being at a Division II institution, they wear more hats than just that of a coach.

“You teach and you have responsibilities on campus, whether it is looking after a building or helping with fund-raising,” Dan said. “You have to learn to manage your time or it eats you up.”

This is where the Schmotzer brothers’ sense of humor serves them both well.

“Laughter is a major part of your day, your week, your month and your year,” Dan said. “It’s a great stress release, but sometimes our players don’t think we are very funny.”

To the best of their knowledge, only one student-athlete has attempted to play for both Schmotzer brothers while attending Coker.

“When you get tired of one of us, you don’t really want another one. It could lead to huge psychological damage,” Dave joked.

The Schmotzers, who have two older sisters (Mary and Anne) and two younger brothers (Tim and Raymond), fostered their competitive nature during their childhood in Cleveland. Their father, Raymond, was a youth baseball coach and their mother, Laverne, was the general manager of food services at Cleveland Municipal Stadium for 35 years.

That meant the Schmotzers regularly attended Browns’ and Indians’ games. They each follow those teams and the Cavaliers through sports subscription packages, which means John Elway and Michael Jordan are still co-Public Enemy No. 1s on their list.

“It was a blast to get to go to those games growing up,” Dave said. “We both get all the sports packages and go over to each other’s house to watch the games.”

After graduating high school in Cleveland, the Schmotzer brothers headed to St. Edward’s in Austin, Texas, to compete in basketball and baseball. They were particularly adept at turning double plays with Dave at shortstop and Dan at second.

“We played since we were kids, so by the time we were done playing in college, we had worked together for like 25 years,” Dave said. “You knew where to flip the ball on the double play.”

Finding symmetry on the field isn’t the only place the Schmotzers displayed their close bond. It can be seen in everyday life.

“My mom and dad were the only ones who probably understand this, but there is some sort of mental telepathy about being a twin,” Dan said. “It’s amazing. I could probably tell you right now what he’s doing.”

Dan, who met his wife Sheila while recruiting her seven-foot brother to play for TCU, has three children. His daughter Mimi is a sophomore at Coker, and Raegan is a high school freshman. His son Jereme played basketball and graduated from Limestone, Coker’s rival in Conference Carolinas.

Dan thought it was a great idea for his son to branch out and play for Larry Epperly, who is now an assistant coach at East Carolina.

“My kid wanted to get away for college,” Dan said. “Larry Epperly was a Godsend. He did a terrific job making a man out of him.”

The Schmotzers try to attend each other’s games, but it is a futile endeavor. They are so close that it takes all the fun out of trying to be a fan when your stomach is churning.

“I don’t attend as many basketball games as I should, but I sit there in the stands and get too worked up,” said Dave, who lives with his wife, Brenda. “I’m not enjoying it. I have my own stress with my own team.”

Dan has the same problem, although he likes to sit in the dugout when he goes to Cobra baseball games.

“You are sitting there thinking, ‘I’m supposed to be a fan enjoying this, but my heart is beating,’ ” Dan said. “He took a team to the Division II finals a few years back, and I made that trip. They asked me to be the analyst on the television broadcast. I enjoyed that, because I was focused on making sure I was saying the right things rather than just watching the game.”

Through the years, both Schmotzers realize how special it has been for them to work in this profession and remain close. Coaching is normally a nomadic experience, but Hartsville, South Carolina, is the place they both call home.

“At the end of the day, you want to be happy,” Dave said. “The game has been so great and it’s been a privilege to coach this many years at a great institution.”

Dan added: “Who knows how much longer we have left to coach. I know when we sit around the campfire and look back, we are going to consider ourselves very lucky with the way our lives turned out. It’s great to know that you have some effect on the players you coached.”