Iowa baseball hosting Upper Iowa brings back ‘a lot of good memories’ for Rick Heller

IOWA CITY — University of Iowa baseball coach Rick Heller was a popular guy Tuesday.

He exchanged words and handshakes with people clad in Peacock blue. Some crossed the field to just say hello, while others wandered into the Hawkeyes’ dugout, asking “Where’s Rick?” for a chance to reconnect briefly.

Heller was more than happy to oblige the familiar faces from the Upper Iowa community following Iowa’s win over the Peacocks in a midweek contest at Duane Banks Field. He is a former multiple-sport athlete and coach in Upper Iowa’s Athletics Hall of Fame.

“It was great,” Heller said about facing his former program. “A lot of good memories and good people.”

Heller’s success at Upper Iowa propelled him into a successful NCAA Division I coaching career with stops at Northern Iowa and Indiana State before lifting the Hawkeyes to new heights since 2013. His time in Fayette was memorable and started to mold him into the coach he is today.

“That’s where I developed pretty much everything we do,” Heller said. “I was really young when I got the job and tried to learn as much as I could as fast as I could each year. Had a really good program with great kids.”

Heller was a four-year starter at shortstop for the Peacocks. He also was a three-year letterwinner as a flanker for the football team and added two letters in basketball, graduating in 1986. After a year coaching high school baseball in Bakersfield, Mo., he returned to take over Upper Iowa in 1987.

The Peacocks went 291-194-3 in 12 seasons under Heller. He guided them to three Iowa Conference titles, three league tournament titles and three regional appearances, including a trip to the 1996 NCAA D-III World Series, 10 winning seasons and five 30-win seasons.

“It’s a prideful time for a guy who played there and went through some ups and downs,” said Heller, noting that he was a football assistant for 10 years. “To be able to go back to your alma mater and coach a team and win championships and go to the World Series and do a lot of positive things.

“It’s a great place. I love Fayette. Love Upper Iowa (and) the people there. It’s just a wonderful place. I was there 16 years all total, so kind of home almost in a way.”

  Buy Photo

Heller immersed himself in the program, attempting to transform Upper Iowa into an annual power. He focused solely on the daily operations. Heller couldn’t have envisioned it would be a springboard to a lengthy and successful D-I tenure.

“At the time, I believed we could win in baseball,” Heller said. “They hadn’t won in much of anything in a long time. My focus was on recruiting, coaching and learning and fixing the field and trying to give us a source of pride for the school. That was probably as big as I looked. It was just the next day. Just like we do here.

“For me, the place you’re at is always the best place in the world and that’s how we treated it.”

One of the spectators was Upper Iowa Athletics Director Rick Hartzell, who hired Heller to lead the UNI program in 1999. He was there until the program was cut after the 2009 season. Heller remains appreciative that Hartzell provided him a chance and didn’t pigeon-hole him as a lower-level coach.

“There was always hope you could get a chance at the Division-I level just because I wanted the challenge to go up against the best of the best in college baseball,” Heller said. “When Rick Hartzell was hired at UNI, he gave me that opportunity. I’m forever thankful to Rick for that because there are a lot of really good coaches in Division III and Division II that don’t get that opportunity.”

Comments: nathan.ford@thegazette.com