18th Season (26th Overall)
Career Record: 610-684-1
Utah Record: 365-502-1
Coaching Highlights:
> Won Utah's first men's Pac-12 Championship in 2016 and was named the Pac-12 Coach of the Year.
> Led Utah to two NCAA Tournament appearances (2016, 2009). Utah made its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1960 in 2009, winning the MWC title for the automatic bid.
> 11 Utah players drafted in the first 10 rounds, including the Utes' first-ever first-round selection in C.J. Cron (2011, 17th overall). Four players drafted in 2017 tied a Utah school record.
> Led the USA Baseball Collegiate Team to a silver medal at the 2010 FISU World University Championships in Japan.
> Went 25-12 with 2007 US National Team as pitching coach, with the team finishing with a 1.93 ERA.
> Established school records for wins in a season at UTEP (1985) and Wyoming (1990).
> 1990 WAC Coach of the Year.
The 2016 Pac-12 Coach of the Year, Bill Kinneberg enters his 18th season at the helm of the Utah baseball team and his 26th year as a head coach at the collegiate level.
Kinneberg guided Utah to its first Pac-12 Championship in 2016 with a 19-11 league record, becoming the first Utah men's team to win a Pac-12 title since the Utes joined the league in 2011-12.
After winning the Pac-12 title, the Utes made it to the NCAA Tournament for the second time under Kinneberg (2009, 2016).
After a tough start to the 2016 season in non-conference play, Utah got rolling at the start of Pac-12 play and never slowed down only losing two series all conference season. The final weekend was a battle for first with Washington, and Utah claimed the crown winning two out of three in the series.
Kinneberg was named the Pac-12 Coach of the Year and that team is still the only men’s team to win a Pac-12 Championship at Utah since joining the conference in 2011.
The Utes were sent to Ole Miss for the regional and won their first game against the hosts before eventually falling down the line.
In 2009, the Utes reached the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1960, as the Utes won their first Mountain West Conference Tournament. Utah won two games at NCAA’s, defeating Gonzaga and Georgia Southern in the Fullerton Regional.
In the abbreviated 2020 season due to Covid-19, Utah went 6-7 finishing on a high note by winning two of three games against Minnesota in U.S. Bank Stadium. The Utes were set to start Pac-12 play the following weekend.
In 2019, the bright spot for Utah was Oliver Dunn. He was drafted by the New York Yankees in the 11th round after hitting .366 starting in all 49 games. Dunn also was named a Collegiate Baseball Third Team All-American as well as making the All-Pac-12 Team.
Kinneberg also earned his 600th win as a head coach against No. 12 Arizona State.
Several other players have earned national honors under Kinneberg along with Dunn. C.J. Cron was a two-time first-team All-American in 2010 and 2011, a Golden Spikes Award semifinalist, the two-time District Player of the Year and a two-time MWC Player of the Year. Ryan Khoury earned first-team All-America honors in 2006, and was also District Player of the Year and MWC Player of the Year. In 2017, Dallas Carroll was a third-team ABCA All-American.
Kinneberg has had 11 players drafted in the first 10 rounds out of Utah, including the Utes’ first-ever first-round selection in 2011, when Cron was the 17th overall pick. Cron, Stephen Fife (third round, 2008) and Tyler Wagner (fourth round, 2012) have all reached the majors. Cron spent the 2018 season with Tampa Bay after four years with the Los Angeles Angels (2014-17). Wagner was promoted to the majors with the Milwaukee Brewers in 2015 and earned his first major league win with the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2016. Fife pitched in 18 games for the Los Angeles Dodgers from 2012-14. Most recently, DaShawn Keirsey, Jr., became Kinneberg’s fourth draft pick in the first four rounds out of Utah, selected by the Minnesota Twins in 2018.
Kinneberg's teams have rewritten the record books. Cron shattered the career batting average mark during his three seasons. Now assistant coach Jay Brossman holds records for hits, doubles and total bases. Corey Shimada ranks first in the record books for triples, stolen bases (tie), runs scored and walks while Kody Davis also tied the career stolen bases mark (52). On the mound, Wagner has a school-record 17 career saves while Jayson Rose set school records for both career (256) and single-season (106, 2016) strikeouts as well as wins (19, tie).
In 25 seasons as a head coach at the NCAA Division I level, Kinneberg has a record of 604-678-1. He earned his 400th career victory in the 2009 NCAA tournament with a win over Gonzaga. His 500th career win came against Nevada on April 25, 2014, and this past year earned his 600th against No. 12 Arizona State.
Kinneberg has coached collegiate baseball for 35 years. His teams established school records for victories in a season at UTEP in 1985 and Wyoming in 1990.
Kinneberg is in his second stint as head coach for the Utes. He previously served a year as head coach in 1996 before returning to the program for the 2005 season. Kinneberg has won 365 games at Utah.
Kinneberg also has experience with USA Baseball. In 2010 he served as the head coach of the US National Team that won a silver medal at the FISU World University Championships in Japan. Kinneberg has done several stints with USA Baseball. He served as the pitching coach in 2007 and 1999. The 2007 pitching staff turned in a 25-12 mark in international competition, and finished with a scant 1.93 earned-run average. Kinneberg also spent several years as director of the organization's athlete development program.
Prior to joining the Utah staff, Kinneberg worked in the Chicago White Sox organization as a minor league pitching coach.
From 1996 through 2001, Kinneberg was the associate head coach at Arizona. The Wildcats were 124-102 and advanced to an NCAA Regional during Kinneberg's tenure. He served an assistant baseball coach at Arizona State from 1992 through 1994. During the 1993 and 1994 seasons, Kinneberg helped lead the Sun Devils to back-to-back appearances in the College World Series.
Kinneberg was the head baseball coach at Wyoming from 1986 through 1992. In 1990, he earned WAC Coach of the Year honors after recording a school-record 37 wins. Kinneberg coached 16 All-WAC players while in Laramie.
Kinneberg served as head coach at UTEP in 1985. Prior to that, he was an assistant at UTEP for four seasons.
In addition to his duties with USA Baseball, Kinneberg worked with the Italian Olympic team in 1984, serving as pitching coach.
Kinneberg is a 1980 graduate of Arizona. He played two years with the Wildcats, going 7-4 on the mound with seven saves, including an appearance in the 1979 College World Series. Kinneberg earned a master’s degree from UTEP in 1982.
Kinneberg and his wife Janet reside in Sandy, Utah. They have two children, Joe and David.