Rich Hill claps next to his University of San Diego players, including current Chicago Cubs star Kris Bryant (center), during an NCAA regional game against Cal Poly on May 31, 2013. Hill was hired as the new University of Hawaii head coach earlier this month. AP file photo
Rich Hill wants the University of Hawaii baseball team to be Maui’s team again.
The third coach in UH baseball history knows that will not happen instantly, but he is ready to build his case.
Before Naighel Calderon of Lanai High School landed on the roster in 2020, there had not been a Maui County player on the Rainbow Warriors since 2007. Before Konnor Palmeira of Kamehameha Maui was a freshman in 2021, there had not been a Maui island baseball player in Manoa since 2000.
“Absolutely, level 10 commitment, I can’t wait to get over to Maui,” Hill said via phone on Friday, a week after being hired to take over the UH program. “I mean, it’s growing so fast. … I’m really looking forward to connecting with members of that passionate baseball community there. We plan on coming over and doing a couple camps for the kids on Maui.”
The 59-year-old Hill comes to Manoa from the University of San Diego, where he was head coach for 23 seasons. Hill compiled a 747-514-4 record at USD, made it to eight NCAA regionals, earned the program’s first-ever national seed (2007), won seven West Coast Conference titles and coached two national players of the year (Kris Bryant, 2013, Golden Spikes Award and Brian Matusz, 2008, National Pitcher of the Year).
In this photo from June 2, 2013, San Diego coach Rich Hill yells at head umpire Olindo Mattia over an out at third base during an NCAA regional game against Cal Poly. AP file photo
Hill’s first interaction with his new team came on a Zoom call immediately after he took the job.
“From my first impression, I think he’s a great coach,” Calderon said via phone Friday from the Washington, D.C., area, where he and Palmeira are playing in a summer college league. “His numbers speak for themselves and I feel like he’s a guy that we can get behind and probably lead our program to a regional.”
Calderon was also impressed by Hill’s wish to bring the Rainbow Warriors to the entire state.
“For me, what stood out was he wants to get the community involved,” Calderon said. “Especially that, we have to have our community behind us. He said he wants to pack the stadium, which has, what, 4,000 seats? … That obviously fired me up.”
Hill mentioned current Los Angeles Angels catcher Kurt Suzuki, a Baldwin High School graduate, and retired major leaguer Shane Victorino, a St. Anthony graduate, as part of the fabric he wants to reach out to from Maui.
“We want to get those guys involved,” Hill said. “Kurt, I coached against him when he was at Cal State Fullerton. Shane is somebody that’s extremely passionate about giving back. The citizens of Maui really know that. … I’m really looking forward to connecting, to getting over there and serving the community, specifically by the way of camps and clinics and some of the stuff that we do. As someone who is familiar with Maui and the athletes over there, yeah, I can’t wait to get over there.”
Hill added, “That’s one of the things at the top of the list now, is connecting with the people, connecting with the coaches and connecting with the passionate baseball community, but also with the people of Hawaii. I’ve spent more time on the Neighbor Islands than I have on Oahu.”
That thinking has Calderon, for one, fired up.
“No one can represent the islands like Hawaii boys can,” he said.
Palmeira was also impressed with Hill.
“I think he’s very energetic, I think he’s an attention grabber, like, everyone was listening to him obviously, but he just has good energy and he’s very determined to get us working as soon as we get there and get us to a national championship,” he said. “He has a vision of us playing for a championship. We love it, all the guys love it.”
“What caught my attention was that he wants us to have our last names on the back of our jerseys because he said we’re representing much more than the university, we’re also representing our families,” Palmeira added. “So every time we put on that jersey we feel proud to be a part of that program. That really caught my attention.”
Hill’s reason for coming to UH “is just not one thing, it’s got many components to why. No. 1, the word ‘impact.’ A coach has the ability to impact more people in a year than most people do in a lifetime. That’s a quote from Bill Graham, so when you think about the impact that I’ve been blessed to have on the culture at Cal Lutheran, (University of San Francisco) and certainly USD over the past 23 years, now I have the chance to impact another team — 35 guys per year for the next 10 years — and it goes further than that though with the fabric of Hawaii.
“I have an opportunity to impact young men from the state of Hawaii, a community and our organization, our culture has the chance to impact an entire state. Not only with what we do on the field with winning championships and bringing that passionate baseball community to life, but also in the community with the keiki, with all of the stuff that we’re going to do with our camps and clinics and really serving. That’s really No. 1.”
He continued, “No. 2 is the opportunity to coach at a place with the state across your chest and especially the state of Hawaii where it is so tight-knit and so passionate. You know, to have an SEC-like environment on the West Coast and the University of Hawaii is the closest to an SEC environment that you get on the West Coast — that’s 4,000 in Les Murakami Stadium and then the standing room only screaming ‘Let’s go ‘Bows.’
“So those two things kind of go to the forefront for me. I’m a rock climber, man. I’m a builder. And the opportunity to do this one more time is just absolutely reinvigorating, recharging — I feel like a little kid again.”
Hill loves to surf and knows all about some of the best spots on the Valley Isle.
“I love the northwest side, that whole area in there, mainly Honolua to Little Makaha in there, the Hole in the Head,” Hill said. “I don’t know man, I probably will never get a wave now that I have said that in the newspaper, but I don’t think those spots are too secret. They’re so beautiful, magical almost.
“When I’m in the water on that northwest side of Maui, it’s almost surreal for me. No matter how many times, no matter how many sessions I’m out there I’m so grateful and so honored to be able to surf at a place like that.”
Hill knows that there are 10 players listed on the D1baseball.com’s transfer tracker who were on the 2021 UH roster and have eligibility left.
“That is from the past, those guys went in there before I got the job and I’m going to contact most of them, share with them our vision, and they can make their choice from that point on, no pressure,” Hill said. “All I’m telling them is, ‘Hey, this thing’s going to be special, if you want to be on this train.’ … I’m focused on the guys that want to be here, that are fired up about change and fired up about the direction we’re going.”
Hill is excited to take on his new role and spread his excitement throughout the 50th state.
“So the keiki of the Neighbor Islands can see great young adult males as role models in their Rainbow Warrior uniforms, going to college, getting a degree, and having the dream of playing professional baseball,” Hill said. “Emulation is a big factor for us and then they grow up wanting to play at Murakami Stadium and that’s where they want to go.
“I want to get that philosophy going, so all the local boys want to play for the Rainbow Warriors. It starts before they get to high school.”
* Robert Collias is at rcollias@mauinews.com
In this photo from June 2, 2013, San Diego coach Rich Hill yells at head umpire Olindo Mattia over an out at third base during an NCAA regional game against Cal Poly. AP file photo 
Rich Hill claps next to his University of San Diego players, including current Chicago Cubs star Kris Bryant (center), during an NCAA regional game against Cal Poly on May 31, 2013. Hill was hired as the new University of Hawaii head coach earlier this month. AP file photoToday's breaking news and more in your inbox
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