SAN DIEGO — After a 23-year tenure at the University of San Diego that saw the program elevated to new heights and unprecedented success, baseball coach Rich Hill has accepted a position as the head baseball coach at the University of Hawaii. San Diego Associate Vice President / Executive Director of Athletics Bill McGillis made the announcement on Friday afternoon.

"I am excited for Coach Hill and want to thank him for 23 remarkable years of service to the University of San Diego, USD baseball and the greater San Diego community," McGillis said. "While our baseball program has enjoyed immense success easily captured in the numbers of WCC championships, NCAA regional appearances, All-Americans, and professional players, I think Coach Hill's legacy at USD can more rightly be measured by the thousands of lives he has positively impacted within our program, on our campus and in our community. He has poured his heart and soul into the men who have played at USD, children in our community and others. We wish Coach Hill and his wife Lori great success and know that he will make a very similar impact on the people of Hawaii."

Hill's departure from USD is preceded by a multi-decade run of coaching prosperity that is among the greatest in Torero history. After accepting the USD head coaching position in 1999 to become just the second head coach in San Diego's Division I era and the third in program history, Hill went on to record a 747-514-4 (349-215-1 West Coast Conference) record at the top step of the San Diego dugout, steering the team to seven WCC championships and eight NCAA regional appearances while helping 93 players sign professional contracts — including 2016 National League Most Valuable Player Kris Bryant.

"It has been an honor and privilege to serve as the head baseball Coach at USD," said Hill, a four-time WCC Coach of the Year who also guided the program through its transition from Cunningham Stadium to Fowler Park. "The people here are what make it such a special place. Especially the players and coaches that I've had the fortune of locking arms with to achieve the common goal. Beating Pepperdine on the last day of the season in '99 to achieve a winning record in our first year…the sweep of No. 1 Texas in '06 — which put us on the national map and changed Torero Baseball forever…Hosting a regional and being a national seed in '07…Fowler Park! The Kris Bryant years…eight NCAA Regionals and seven WCC Championships…sixteen straight years appearing in the national polls and finishing our last three years combined with the best winning percentage in the WCC.

Seven, eight, nine, Torero time for the Hill's!"

A national search for San Diego baseball's new head coach will begin immediately.

"We will begin an immediate national search for our next head coach, and our intention will be to identify the right leader — one committed to, and capable of, advancing our department vision of Winning in the Classroom, Winning on the Playing Field and Winning in the Community," McGillis added. "We are extraordinarily well positioned to compete at the highest level of college baseball. Our vision for this program includes spending two weeks in Omaha, Nebraska to close out a future season of Torero baseball, and we can realize that vision. When you couple great leadership with a world-class academic institution, the most beautiful campus in America, arguably the premier collegiate ballpark in the West and the rich talent base in our backyard, you have a formula for national success. I am big-time excited about the future of USD baseball."

Rich Hill and USD by the Numbers (1999-2021)

• Overall Record at USD: 747-514-4
• Overall West Coast Conference Record at USD (1999-2021): 349-215-1
• WCC Championships: 7 (2002, 2003, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2013, 2015)
• NCAA Regional Appearances: 8 (2002, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2013)
• All-Americans: 33
• Players who signed professional baseball contracts: 93