Dan Takata has been a staff athletic trainer at Louisiana Tech since 2021, serving as the primary care provider for the baseball program after initially working with the football and golf teams. In 2022, he was elevated to an associate athletic trainer. In addition to overseeing the daily health care of LA Tech student-athletes, Takata, serves as the Director of Baseball Operations, where he coordinates team travel, nutrition, equipment, and game day operations.

Prior to joining Tech, Takata worked at Albemarle High School in Charlottesville, Virginia, after working for the University of Virginia with their tennis, squash, and volleyball programs. Before that, he worked at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga as an intern with their football team during the 2020 offseason, following his completion of a seasonal athletic training internship with the New York Jets for their 2019 season. Takata also served as a summer intern for the Carolina Panthers in 2018.
 
A Chicago native and double 'Hoo, Takata earned his B.S.Ed. from the University of Virginia in December 2016, majoring in Kinesiology and Government Politics before earning his Master's of Science in Athletic Training in 2019. During grad school, he worked with the football, women's rowing, and men's lacrosse teams, culminating in a national championship in the spring of 2019.