Bill Kinneberg
Kinneberg in 2009
Biographical details
Born (1957-07-04) July 4, 1957 (age 66)
Sewell, Chile
Playing career
1976–1977Central Arizona
1978–1979Arizona
Position(s)Pitcher
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1981–1984UTEP (assistant)
1985UTEP
1986–1992Wyoming
1993–1994Arizona State (assistant)
1996Utah
1997–2001Arizona (assistant)
2005–2021Utah
Head coaching record
Overall625–717–1
Accomplishments and honors
Awards
WAC Coach of the Year (1990)
Pac-12 Coach of the Year (2016)

William Arthur Kinneberg (born July 4, 1957)[1][2] is a former American baseball coach. He served as head baseball coach of the Utah Utes in 1996 and from 2005 to 2021. Coach Kinneberg lead the Utes to the university's first ever men's Pac-12 championship in the 2016 season, finishing with a 26–29 overall record.

Early life and education

Born in Sewell, Chile, Kinneberg grew up in Douglas and Morenci, Arizona and Silver City, New Mexico, where he graduated from Silver High School in 1975.[2][3]

Kinneberg began his college baseball career at the junior college level pitching for Central Arizona College from 1976 to 1977 and transferred to the University of Arizona to play for the Arizona Wildcats from 1978 to 1979 under Jerry Kindall.[3] As a senior in 1979, Kinneberg had a 7–4 record and led Arizona to an appearance in the College World Series.[2]

Kinneberg was a pitcher for the Arizona Wildcats, owning a 7–4 record with 7 saves over two seasons. He appeared in the 1979 College World Series with the Wildcats.[4]

Coaching career

After ending his playing career, Kinneberg was hired as an assistant at UTEP. He served in that role for four seasons before assuming the head coaching role for the 1985 season. In what was to be the last season of baseball at UTEP, Kinneberg led the Miners to a program record 33 wins.[5] After the end of UTEP's program, he moved to Wyoming, setting a program record for wins in Laramie in 1990 with a 37–18 record. Kinneberg earned Western Athletic Conference Coach of the Year honors for the 1990 season, and coached 16 All-Conference players at Wyoming. Ironically, the Cowboys program was shut down in 1996, just four years after Kinneberg's departure for Arizona State.[6] Kinneberg spent two seasons with the Sun Devils, helping to guide them to consecutive College World Series appearances.

Kinneberg spent one season as a pitching coach in the Chicago White Sox system, before returning to college head coaching at Utah for the 1996 season. He led the Utes to a 30–22 season and a third-place finish in the WAC. He then accepted an associate head coaching position at Arizona, helping the Wildcats to a Regional appearance during his five years in Tucson.[4]

Utah again offered him their head coaching position 2005. During his second stint with the Utes, Kinneberg led the team to their first-ever MWC title and first NCAA tournament appearance since 1960, coached three high level Major League Baseball Draft picks, including Utah's first-ever first round pick (C. J. Cron), and now leads the Utes in their new home in the Pac-12 Conference.[4][7] Kinneberg was named Pac-12 Baseball Coach of the Year in 2016 after leading the Utes to their first-ever Pac-12 Conference title.[8]

Kinneberg also has coached USA Baseball's National Team (collegiate), beginning as a pitching coach in 1999, and as head coach in 2007 and 2010.[4][9]

Personal life

Kinneberg and his wife, Janet, have two sons, Joe and David.Joe currently plays baseball at Western Nebraska Community College (WNCC)[4]

Head coaching record

The following is a table of Kinneberg's yearly records as an NCAA head baseball coach.[10][11][12][13][14]

Statistics overview
Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
UTEP (Western Athletic Conference) (1985)
1985 UTEP 33–26 11–13 3rd (Southern)
UTEP: 33–26 11–13
Wyoming (Western Athletic Conference) (1986–1992)
1986 Wyoming 29–19 16–7 1st (Eastern)
1987 Wyoming 27–22 11–12 3rd (Western)
1988 Wyoming 25–27 14–13 4th
1989 Wyoming 36–21 17–10 4th
1990 Wyoming 37–18 20–8 3rd
1991 Wyoming 31–22 14–12 4th
1992 Wyoming 27–28 11–14 5th
Wyoming: 212–157 103–76
Utah Utes (Western Athletic Conference) (1996)
1996 Utah 30–22 15–15 T–3rd
Utah Utes (Mountain West Conference) (2005–2011)
2005 Utah 19–36 10–20 5th
2006 Utah 28–28 9–13 6th
2007 Utah 24–31 12–12 T–3rd
2008 Utah 26–28 10–14 T–4th
2009 Utah 28–31 8–16 6th NCAA Regional
2010 Utah 23–28 10–13 6th
2011 Utah 29–21 16–7 2nd
Utah Utes (Pac-12 Conference) (2012–2021)
2012 Utah 14–42 7–23 11th
2013 Utah 21–31 7–23 11th
2014 Utah 16–36 4–26 11th
2015 Utah 17–35–1 7–22–1 11th
2016 Utah 26–29 19–11 1st NCAA Regional
2017 Utah 24–24 12–15 7th
2018 Utah 16–39 8–22 11th
2019 Utah 16–33 6–24 10th
2020 Utah 6–7 0–0 Season canceled due to Covid-19
2021 Utah 17–33 7–23 10th
Utah: 380–534–1 167–299–1
Total: 625–717–1

      National champion         Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

References

  1. ^ "Basic Search - Campus Directory - the University of Utah".
  2. ^ a b c "Bill Kinneberg". Arizona Wildcats. Archived from the original on October 7, 1999. Retrieved May 4, 2018.
  3. ^ a b Simpson, Corky (July 16, 1996). "New Cat coach no stranger". Tucson Citizen. Retrieved May 4, 2018.
  4. ^ a b c d e "Bill Kinneberg Profile". utahutes.com. Retrieved December 14, 2012.
  5. ^ Brett Bloomquist (July 2, 2012). "A fond pastime: Once a successful part of UTEP athletics, baseball may return". El Paso Times. Archived from the original on January 22, 2013. Retrieved December 14, 2012.
  6. ^ "www.cowboyaltitude.com/2012/2/24/2821811/wyoming-legislature-says-no-to-university-baseball-and-softball". cowboyattitude. Retrieved December 14, 2012.
  7. ^ Dirk Facer (June 10, 2011). "Utah Utes baseball will need depth to compete in Pac-12". Deseret News. Retrieved December 14, 2012.
  8. ^ McDonald, Ryan (June 2, 2016). "Utah baseball: Bill Kinneberg named Pac-12 Coach of the Year, 4 players named to All-Pac-12 Team". The Deseret News.
  9. ^ "Utah's Bill Kinneberg Named 2010 USA Baseball National Team Head Coach". utahutes.com. June 22, 2009. Retrieved December 14, 2012.
  10. ^ "2013 Western Athletic Conference Baseball Media Guide". WACSports.com. Archived from the original on June 26, 2013. Retrieved May 6, 2013.
  11. ^ "Annual Conference Standings". BoydsWorld.com. Archived from the original on February 20, 2013. Retrieved May 6, 2013.
  12. ^ "Mountain West Baseball History: 2000–2012" (PDF). Mountain West Conference. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 9, 2013. Retrieved May 8, 2013.
  13. ^ "2012 Pac-12 Conference Baseball Standings". D1Baseball.com. Jeremy Mills. Archived from the original on July 21, 2013. Retrieved May 8, 2013.
  14. ^ "2013 Pac-12 Conference Baseball Standings". D1Baseball.com. Jeremy Mills. Archived from the original on May 28, 2013. Retrieved June 3, 2013.
Categories