Bill Kinneberg
Associate Head Coach

Bill Kinneberg brings a wealth of collegiate coaching experience to his position as Wildcat pitching coach and associate head coach.

A former Arizona pitcher who has been at the helm of three Division I schools, Kinneberg was hired as Jerry Stitt's top assistant on July 16, 1996. He serves as Arizona's catching coach in addition to his duties with the pitchers.

In his first year as Arizona's pitching coach in 1997, Kinneberg helped the Cats lower their team ERA more than two points to 5.11, their best mark since 1989 and their third-lowest in 14 years.

In 1998, Kinneberg helped hold together a pitching staff through crucial injuries to lefties Rob Shabansky and Scott Wood. Arizona pitchers totaled 481 strike outs in '98, the third-most in UA history. Four Wildcat hurlers were drafted, including three who were taken in the first 10 rounds.

Last season was more of the same as the Cats earned their first postseason appearance in six years.

"You can never say enough about Bill," head coach Jerry Stitt said. "He's the best there is. He's got the head coaching experience. He kind of tells me what to do a lot of the time.

"Any time you get in a position like this, you have to have good people around you. Getting Bill was just a huge load off my mind. To get a guy like him who has the head coaching experience and has been a winner everywhere he's been is a huge plus. He just knows how to do things the right way and to put the winning face on everything."

Working with virtually the same staff that allowed an Arizona-worst 480 runs and 410 earned runs in 1996, Kinneberg brought the '97 team ERA under 5.00 virtually the entire season until the last weekend. Among the year's highlights was a three-game shutout of California at Sancet Field, the first in Six-Pac history.

Kinneberg compiled a 275-205 career mark in nine years as a head coach at Texas-El Paso, Wyoming and Utah, where he led the Utes to a 30-22 mark in 1996. The 30 wins were just one shy of the school record.

Prior to that, Kinneberg had served as the pitching coach at Arizona State in 1993 and '94, as the Sun Devils made consecutive trips to the College World Series. Kinneberg took over the coaching duties of ASU in the '94 series due to the illness of long-time Arizona State Coach Jim Brock. The Devils finished second in their half of the bracket that year. That season, ASU pitchers surrendered just 33 home runs in 63 games, the fewest the Sun Devils had allowed in 12 years.

From 1986-92, Kinneberg served as the head coach at Wyoming, posting a 212-157 mark. He is the only coach to have led Wyoming to five straight conference playoff appearances. Kinneberg was named Western Athletic Conference coach of the year in 1990 after leading the Cowboys to a 37-18 record. USA Today named him the state's outstanding coach that year as well. In his first year with Wyoming in 1986, the team finished first in the WAC's North Division.

Kinneberg's first head coaching job came at Texas-El Paso, where he took over in 1985 after serving as an assistant there for four seasons. UTEP went 33-26 that year, the best record in school history, but dropped the program after that season.

During his stint at UTEP, Kinneberg served as the pitching coach for the 1984 Italian National Team at the Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.

Kinneberg played two seasons at Arizona after graduating from Central Arizona Junior College. He posted a 7-4 mark with seven saves for the Cats and helped them to an appearance in the 1979 College World Series. As a freshman, he led Central Arizona to the 1976 Junior College World Series championship.

Kinneberg earned all-state honors at Silver (N.M.) High School where he pitched and played shortstop for two years. As a sophomore, he helped Morenci (Ariz.) High School win the state championship.

Kinneberg earned his B.S. in physical education from Arizona in 1980 and his master's degree in the same field from UTEP in 1982.

Kinneberg was born July 4, 1957, in Sewell, Chile, and was raised in Douglas, Ariz. He married the former Janet Roubik on Aug. 10, 1996, in Denver.