Rick Heller Head Coach Rick Heller begins his ninth season as the head baseball coach at the University of Northern Iowa where he has earned one Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) championship and an NCAA Regional berth. Last season Heller earned his 200th win with the Panthers, as well as his 500th win as a head coach. During his tenure, Heller has developed the program into a conference contender year in and year out, while coaching two MVC Most Valuable Players and one MVC Pitcher of the Year.

The Panthers have broken 50 team or individual school records with Heller at the helm which includes UNI posting a 4.63 earned run average in 2006, its lowest ERA since joining Division I in 1981. It also broke team records for hits, runs batted in, doubles and extra base hits during the 2001 season.

Heller has led the Panthers to three MVC tournaments, winning the Championship in 2001 with all-American Ryan Brunner claiming the league MVP award and all-American Nic Ungs taking home Pitcher of the Year honors. Since Heller's arrival, 14 Panther players have gone on to play professional baseball, including current minor leaguers Zach Jevne, Josh Habel, Nic Ungs, Adam Boeve and Aaron McEachran. The Panthers recorded back-to-back 30-plus win seasons in 2001 and 2002 for the first time in school history and set the school single-season record at 35 wins in 2001.

UNI's NCAA Regional appearance in 2001 was the school's first since becoming Division I in 1981. Heller also has coached two academic all-Americans in Travis Welsch and Ryan Brunner.

Since Heller's arrival in 2000, the school record books virtually have been rewritten. The Panthers have a strong tradition as one of the best offensive teams in the conference as well as the country. In Heller's six years, UNI has led the league in hitting three times and finished second once.

In 2001, UNI was ranked 10th in the nation in hitting with a team average of .333. The Panthers were sixth in the country in stolen bases with 130 in 2003. The team has averaged more than seven runs per game in three of the six years he has been at the helm. In 2003, Adam Boeve finished second in the league in hitting, leading in home runs and RBI. Boeve was also the second player during Heller's tenure to earn the MVC Player of the Year award.

Team hitting is not the only thing that has improved since Heller's arrival. The pitching and fielding has also strengthened. UNI's earned run average has lowered in six of Heller's years with the 2006 ERA being the best in school history. The club's walk to strikeout ratio has improved with nearly every season since 2000. The 2003 and 2004 Panther squads also put together the top two defensive teams in school history with an overall fielding percentage of .964 both seasons.

Heller became just the sixth UNI baseball coach since 1926 when he was hired in September 1999. He had spent the previous 12 seasons building a nationally-ranked program as the head coach at Upper Iowa University in Fayette, Iowa.

While at Upper Iowa, Heller recorded a 291-194-3 record and was named Iowa Conference Coach of the Year four times. The Peacocks won three regular-season and three Iowa Conference Tournament titles in his tenure.

Heller arrived in Fayette in the fall of 1987 and quickly turned things around, earning his first Iowa Conference Coach of the Year honor in 1989. One year later, he led Upper Iowa to its first winning season in 17 years. In 1993, Heller won his first conference championship, and the first for any UIU program in 20 years, while advancing to the NCAA Division III Regionals.

Heller's team won the Iowa Conference and advanced to the NCAA Regionals again in 1995. His team finished 19th in the national rankings and he won his third Coach of the Year honor. He repeated Coach of the Year honors again in 1996 when the Peacocks won the Iowa Conference and Central Regional to advance to the NCAA Division III College World Series. His team finished the year ranked sixth nationally and he was named NCAA Division III Central Region Coach of the Year. That 39-12 team also set a school record for wins.

In 1997, his team was ranked seventh nationally in the pre-season poll and won the Iowa Conference Tournament. In 1998, his team reached as high as 10th nationally while finishing with a 38-8 record to set a school record for winning percentage. His final UIU team finished 30-15-1 and finished third in the Iowa Conference while setting five school records.

As a player at Upper Iowa from 1982-86, he was a four-year starter at shortstop and he also lettered in football and basketball. He is a member of the Upper Iowa Athletic Hall of Fame.

Heller has two daughters - Tara (26) and Alyssa (18).

1982-86: Won four letters in baseball, three in football and two letters in basketball as a student-athlete at Upper Iowa University.

1987: Hired at Bakersfield High School in Missouri as the baseball and basketball coach.

1988: Hired at Upper Iowa.

1989: Iowa Conference Coach of the Year.

1990: First winning season at Upper Iowa in 17 years (any sport).

1993: Iowa Conference champions, the first at UIU in 20 years (any sport) ... Iowa Conference Coach of the Year ... NCAA III Central Regional qualifier ... Iowa High School Coaches Association Four-Year College Coach of the Year.

1995: Iowa Conference champions ... Iowa Conference Coach of the Year ... NCAA III Central Regional qualifier ... Ranked 19th nationally in final poll.

1996: NCAA III College World Series qualifiers ... Central Region champions ... Iowa Conference champions ... Ranked sixth nationally in final NCAA III poll ... Iowa Conference Coach of the Year ... NCAA III Central Region Coach of the Year ... Iowa High School Coaches Association Four-Year College Coach of the Year ... Set school mark for wins in a season with a 39-12 record.

1997: Iowa Conference Tournament champions ... Ranked seventh nationally in NCAA III preseason poll.

1998: 38-8 season record ... Ranked as high as 10th in NCAA Division III.

1999: Went 30-15-1 ... Set school records in five categories.

2000: Hired at UNI ... Became first UNI baseball coach since 1925 to win first game ... Notched school's 1,000th all-time win ... Two wins over #15 Creighton ... Set UNI record for most wins by a first-year coach.

2001: Led UNI to first NCAA bid since 1968 after winning MVC Tournament ... Coached first team all-American Ryan Brunner to MVC Player of the Year honors and second team all-American Nic Ungs to MVC Pitcher of the Year honors ... Three players drafted in first 18 rounds ... Led team to school-record 35 wins as it broke eight offensive single-season records ... Swept first-place Missouri State on the road ... Led the MVC in hitting, 10th nationally.

2002: His second 30-win season since arriving at UNI ...Three players drafted ... Back-to-back winning seasons for the first time in 15 years ... Eight batters hit over .300 ... Earned their second consecutive trip to the MVC Tournament.

2003: Finished fourth in the MVC ... Earned his 100th victory as a UNI coach and number 400 of his career ... Earned third straight trip to the MVC Tournament ... Adam Boeve named MVC Player of the Year and drafted in the 12th round ...Went 27-28 and 16-15 MVC ... Iowa High School Coaches Association Four-Year College Coach of the Year.

2004: Finished tied for fifth in the MVC ... Pitchers combined for a 4.72 ERA, UNI's best since 1981 when it turned Division I ... Second straight season UNI had a fielding percentage of .964, second highest in school history ... Swept Big Ten opponents, defeating Iowa three times and Minnesota twice.

2005: Three players named all-conference selections ... Kory Kelchen broke the school record for career innings pitched with 274.1 and Bryan Westphal set the UNI single-season record for appearances on the mound with 25 ... Panthers won second annual Corridor Classic against Iowa 9-7.

2006: Recorded a 28-27 winning season ... Defeated Iowa for the third consecutive time in the Corridor Classic ... Defeated No. 5-ranked Nebraska in Lincoln ... Recorded UNI's lowest earned run average since joining Div. 1.

2007: Four all-MVC selections ... Aaron Jenkins set the single-season strike out record, and tied the career mark ... earned 200th win as UNI's head coach ... earned 500th career win as a head coach.

Heller's Career Record Year School W-L-T Pct.

1988 Upper Iowa 7-30 .189

1989 Upper Iowa 10-23 .303

1990 Upper Iowa 19-17 .527

1991 Upper Iowa 22-13 .629

1992 Upper Iowa 23-16 .590

1993 Upper Iowa 21-15-1 .581

1994 Upper Iowa 21-18-1 .538

1995 Upper Iowa 31-13 .705

1996 Upper Iowa 39-12 .765

1997 Upper Iowa 30-14 .682

1998 Upper Iowa 38-8 .826

1999 Upper Iowa 30-15-1 .663

12 yrs. Upper Iowa 291-194-3 .601

2000 UNI 23-33 .411

2001 UNI 35-28 .556

2002 UNI 30-25-1 .545

2003 UNI 27-28 .491

2004 UNI 25-31 .446

2005: UNI 26-28 .481

2006 UNI 28-27 .509

2007 UNI 23-28 .450

7 yrs UNI 217-228-1 .489

TOTAL 19 years 508-422-4 .548