 Embarking on his silver-anniversary season at Rutgers at 32nd overall, head coach Fred Hill has established himself as one of the greatest baseball mentors in the college game. He remains as focused, committed and enthusiastic as he was back in 1984. That year, he accepted the challenge of coaching a team that was coming off a 13-22 record in 1983 and had not appeared in an NCAA Tournament in 14 years and proceeded to build Rutgers baseball into what it is today - a program that is among the best in the country, is consistently ranked in the top 25 nationally and is always in the hunt for an NCAA Tournament berth.
Hill enters 2008 as the 16th winningest active coach in the nation and sits just 65 victories shy of the prestigious 1,000-win mark. The 2007 ABCA East Region Coach of the Year led the Scarlet Knights to both the BIG EAST Regular-Season and Tournament Championship last season – the third time in 10 years he has guided his club to both titles in the same season. Hill’s 2007 squad tied the school record for wins in a season with 42 and earned a No. 3 seed in the NCAA Charlottesville Regional – the 13th NCAA Tournament berth in his amazing tenure.
After enduring his lone losing season as the first-year coach in 1984 (13-21), Hill began to re-establish the Scarlet Knights as a northeast baseball power with a 25-15 mark in 1985, which preceded a 28-18 mark in 1986 and the first of eight-straight Atlantic 10 regular season championships. That season, Rutgers also captured its first Atlantic 10 tournament title and returned to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1970, one of 10 appearances under Hill. A 36-14-1 record in 1987, which set a school record for wins and winning percentage (.716) was the first of seven-straight 30-win seasons for the Scarlet Knights - a stretch that lasted until 1993 and completed the run of eight-straight league titles. In 1990, when RU posted a 37-19 mark and won the fourth of its seven-straight league titles, the team came within one win of advancing to the College World Series, falling to eventual National Champion Georgia in the tournament final in Waterbury, Conn.
A move to the BIG EAST Conference in 1996 had little impact on the Scarlet Knights, as the winning continued. Following back-to-back tournament appearances in 1996 and 1997, Rutgers captured both the regular season and tournament championship in 1998, posting a 33-16 mark along the way and advancing to the NCAA Regional at Tallahassee, Fla. The Scarlet Knights scrapped their way out of the losers' bracket during the conference tournament and beat Notre Dame twice in as many days, including a 12-0 championship game win, to clinch the title.
The following season, Rutgers finished 37-21, placing second in the BIG EAST, and took another step in the national picture, earning the program's first-ever at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament (the six previous trips came from an automatic berth associated with winning the league championship). RU was sent to Lubbock, Tex. to compete in the NCAA Regional with Texas Tech, Wisconsin-Milwaukee and No. 1 Rice University.
The 2000 season featured another step in the building of the program, as RU once again captured the BIG EAST Regular Season and Tournament championships, posting its first 40-win season (40-18) along the way. In the BIG EAST Championship title game, then-freshman Bobby Brownlie, working on three days rest, led RU to a 1-0 win with a complete-game shutout of in-state rival Seton Hall. Ranked as high as No. 14 nationally during the course of the season, Rutgers was selected to host an NCAA Regional at Yogi Berra Stadium in Upper Montclair, N.J., joined by UNC, Penn State and Army.
The 2001 team set the school win mark once again, finishing the year 42-17, with a second-place finish in the BIG EAST. Another at-large NCAA Tournament berth, the program's fourth-straight trip, sent the team to Lincoln, Neb., where RU came within one win of moving onto the Super Regional round.
A 35-22 mark and a trip to the BIG EAST Tournament finals was not good enough in 2002, but RU returned to the NCAA Tournament in 2003 after winning the BIG EAST Regular Season Championship and advancing to the BIG EAST Championship game for the second-straight season.
A long-time high school coach in New Jersey, Hill began his collegiate coaching career in 1977 at Montclair State University, serving as the head baseball and football coach for the Red Hawks. In seven seasons at Montclair State, Hill posted a 148-91-2 mark, leading his team to two NJAC Championships and three NCAA tournament appearances, including the Division III World Series in 1983. (The following season, Hill's first at Rutgers, Montclair State won the national championship with many of his players still in the program.) Just as successful on the gridiron, Hill led the MSU football program to a 55-13-4 record in seven seasons, including five NJAC titles. His team lost just one league contest in a five-year span from 1978 through 1982.
As a collegiate star at Upsala, Hill earned 11 varsity letters. Four letters came in baseball, where he led the team in batting twice. Four more came in football, where he led the team in rushing four times and was named the football team's Most Valuable Back three times. Three more letters came in basketball, where he was voted Most Improved Player his senior year. Chosen as a Small College All-American following his final football season, Hill was honored by his alma mater in 1992 as a distinguished alumnus who has achieved excellence in his chosen profession. Following his outstanding collegiate career, Hill moved onto a professional career in the Washington Senators organization before beginning his storied coaching career.
He began his coaching career as freshman baseball coach at Upsala while also playing semi-pro baseball for the East Orange Soverals. His next move was to Clifford Scott High School, where he was an assistant baseball coach for five years and head coach for another six. During those six years, Hill led the Scotties to a 94-58 record, two state sectional championships, and also served time as an assistant football coach. He moved on to coach the Pequannock High School football team for four years and then returned to Upsala as an assistant baseball coach for three more seasons.
Hill lives in Verona, N.J. with his wife Evelyn. The couple celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary last January. They are the proud parents of six children: Nancy, Fred, Linda, Jim, Tracey, and Karen. They also have eight grandchildren: Jessica, Danielle, Brian, James, Natalie, Nicholas, Alexandra and Giselle. A coaching-rich family, Fred's brother Brian is currently an assistant coach for the NBA’s New Jersey Nets, and his son, Fred, is the head coach of the Rutgers men's basketball team.
The Hill File
-- 2007 ABCA East Region Coach of the Year
-- 2000 East Region Coach of the Year
-- 1998 BIG EAST Coach of the Year
-- 1990 East Region Coach of the Year
-- 1991, '92, '93 Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year
-- 1983 District III Coach of the Year
-- Five Atlantic 10 Tournament Championships
-- Two BIG EAST Regular Season Championships
-- Two BIG EAST Tournament Championships
-- School Record 40 wins in 2000
-- 10 NCAA Tournament Bids
-- 1983 Division III World Series
-- Four NJAC Championships
-- Three Division III NCAA Tournaments appearances
• Hill is entering his 32nd year as a collegiate head coach and his 25th season with the Scarlet Knights as the 16th winningest active head coach in the nation and the most wins of any current BIG EAST coach.
• He owns a 787-472-6 record at Rutgers and an 935-578-8 record as a collegiate head coach.
• He has averaged 32.8 wins per season at Rutgers. He is the first coach in BIG EAST history to win both the regular season and tournament championship in the same season (1998, 2000, 2007), despite only joining the conference in 1996.
• Rutgers has been ranked nationally for at least one week in eight of the last 10 seasons, including a high mark of 14th during the 2000 season.
• As a member of the Atlantic 10 from 1984 through 1996, he guided his team to seven-straight A-10 regular season championships and five tournament championships.
• Not only do Coach Hill's teams win championships, they also win in regular season play; he has just one losing season (his first at Rutgers) in 30 years of collegiate coaching.
• Hill's teams have advanced to the NCAA Tournament in six of the last 10 years, winning the BIG EAST Regular Season and Conference Championships in 1998, 2002 and 2007 as well as the Regular Season crown in 2003.
• In addition to putting winning teams on the field, Coach Hill has developed some of the top players in the country, sending 21 players onto professional baseball in the last six years and 35 in the last 10 seasons. In 2002 - two of his players, Bobby Brownlie and Val Majewksi - were among the top 100 players selected. In 2004, Rutgers had five more players sign professional contracts, including third-round draft pick Jeff Frazier (Detroit Tigers). In 2007, Rutgers had a record six players drafted, including first-round selection Todd Frazier (Cincinnati Reds). Two former players under Hill - David Dejesus (Kansas City Royals) and Jason Bergmann (Washington Nationals) - saw significant action at the Major League level last season.
• From his 2000 squad, which won the BIG EAST Regular Season and Tournament Championship and served as the host of the NCAA Regional at Upper Montclair, 18 players went on to play professionally, including three Major Leaguers and a first-round draft choice.
• Hill began his collegiate career at Montclair State University where, in 1977, he was named head baseball and football coach. In his career with Montclair State, he developed the baseball team into a Division III national power, winning 62 percent of his games and earning a trip to the Division III World Series (Hill was named Division III National Coach of the Year in 1983).
Record Year-by-Year
At Montclair State University
1977 17-12-0 .587
1978 21-12-0 .636 NJAC Champion NCAA
1979 17-15-0 .531
1980 19-14-0 .576 NJAC Champion
1981 18-10-0 .643
1982 25-14-1 .641 NCAA
1983 31-14-1 .781 NCAA World Series
TOTAL 148-91-2 .619
At Rutgers University
1984 13-21-0 .382
1985 25-15-0 .625
1986 28-18-0 .609 A-10 RS/Tour. Champ. NCAA
1987 36-14-1 .716 A-10 RS Champ.
1988 38-21-1 .642 A-10 RS/Tour. Champ. NCAA
1989 34-19-0 .642 A-10 RS Champ.
1990 37-19-0 .660 A-10 RS/Tour. Champ. NCAA
1991 33-24-2 .576 A-10 RS/Tour. Champ. NCAA
1992 32-17-0 .653 A-10 RS
1993 38-17-0 .691 A-10 RS/Tour. Champ. NCAA
1994 28-19-0 .596
1995 28-29-0 .491
1996 32-21-1 .600
1997 28-24-0 .538
1998 33-16-0 .673 BE RS/Tour. Champ. NCAA
1999 37-21-0 .657 NCAA
2000 40-18-0 .690 BE RS/Tour. Champ. NCAA
2001 42-17-0 .712 NCAA
2002 35-22-0 .614
2003 37-22-0 .627 BE RS Champ. NCAA
2004 30-23-0 .567
2005 32-21-0 .604
2006 29-28-1 .509
2007 42-21-0 .667 BE RS/Tour. Champ NCAA
TOTAL 787-472-6 .625
OVERALL 935-578-8 .617 |
