Rick Heller talks about hiring new pitching coach; looks back at weird season
By Pat Harty
IOWA CITY, Iowa – As he looks to hire a new pitching coach, Iowa baseball coach Rick Heller is sort of following the advice of the late, great John Wooden, who often would tell his players to “be quick, but don’t hurry.”
Heller is searching for somebody to replace Sean McGrath, who is moving on after just two seasons as the Iowa pitching coach.
Heller said Wednesday morning in a telephone interview that he already has compiled a short list of candidates.
He now wants to move quickly to have a full staff intact for the always important summer recruiting phase. But he also wants to be meticulous with his approach to help find the right fit.
And there is always the threat of losing an assistant coach to a Major League team as was the case when previous pitching coach Robin Lund was hired by the Detroit Tigers shortly before the start of the 2023 season.
“I’m not going to rush it, because in the past, I always lose them right before the season because that’s the MLB hiring cycle from November until January,” Heller said. And then you’re scrambling because it’s right in the middle of it.
“So, I took the weekend and got my thoughts together and got my short list together, because as you could imagine I’m getting about three e-mails every half hour. So, a lot of people are reaching out. But I’m going to take the time and talk to the people in my circle and try to find the perfect fit, and the perfect fit for our program.
“We have to move quickly because in our world, if you’re a guy short on the road that’s a bad deal in the summer. But I’m not going to rush it if that makes sense.”
McGrath is moving on after a season in which the Iowa pitchers struggled to throw strikes. The lack of control led to too many free bases and high pitch counts, and that put a strain on the pitching depth.
Iowa walked 315 batters over 451 1/3 innings during the regular season and had five pitchers that had more walks than innings pitched.
Junior starter Marcus Morgan had 53 walks over 54 1/3 innings in the regular season and really struggled down the stretch after having made second-team All-Big Ten last season.
Even ace pitcher Brody Brecht struggled with his control until the second half of the season when he caught fire.
“Sean and I talked after the (Big Ten) tournament and we just agree it’s just not the perfect fit,” Heller said. “Nothing against Sean, he’s very talented and a very good pitching man, pitching coach.
“And between the two of us, we just felt like we kind of needed a change and go a different direction. So, that’s what were’ going to do.”

Iowa finished the 2024 season with a 31-23 record, including 14-10 in Big Ten play.
And while those records are respectable, they fell short of what was expected from this Iowa team.
Iowa was the only Big Ten team ranked in the top 25 nationally heading into the season, coming in at No. 20.
The Hawkeyes struggled early and then could never gain much traction due mostly to injuries to key players, inadequate pitching, and bad luck.
Iowa still made the Big Ten Tournament as the No. 5 seed, but then lost both games in Omaha in 10 innings to Michigan and Illinois, respectively.
The 4-2 loss to Illinois ended in controversy as a potential Iowa rally in the 10th was squashed by an interference call on Iowa pinch runner Kyle Huckstorf.
Iowa had loaded the bases with nobody out in the bottom of the 10th inning when senior shortstop Michael Seegers hit a hard grounder to near first base that Illinois tried to turn into a double play.
The return throw from Illinois shortstop Cal Hejza was late to first base, so it appeared that Iowa would have runners on the corners with one out and down a run at 4-3.
However, much to the surprise of Heller, Huckstorf was called for interference on his slide into second.
Heller stayed calm as the play was reviewed. But then Heller lost it after the call was upheld. He charged from the Iowa dugout and vehemently protested to the umpires before being tossed from the game.
Ben Wilmes then struck out one batter later to end the game, and Iowa’s season.
Nearly a week later, Heller still seems perplexed by the interference call.
“It was just a weird year and it really never stopped until the very end with how it ended,” Heller said. “It was as frustrating an ending as you could possibly have with our guys fighting back and looking like we might be able to rally and tie or go ahead in the tenth inning against Illinois.
“And then you have a call go against you that you’ve never seen anything quite like it really. And they don’t fix it in replay. So, it was a rewarding year in the sense that we fought through a lot and we won 31 games. And as crazy as it was, mathematically, we had a chance to win the league the last weekend of the season, and made it to the Big Ten Tournament for every year we’ve been here except for the Covid year.
“What I told the group afterwards was I really just thanked them for not quitting and for not giving up. When things went haywire everybody really just rallied around each other and kept fighting. And sometimes it just doesn’t happen the way you want it to.”
Huckstorf would have normally been starting in centerfield, but he was limited to being just a pinch-runner down the stretch after having suffered a broken hand on a check swing.
All-Big Ten outfielder Sam Petersen also missed the latter part of the season because of a foot injury.
Their injuries combined with the pitching woes made winning far more challenging than what was expected.
“It was a year where from the first day the team was together in August until the end, the work ethic, the camaraderie, the effort, the commitment, all those things were outstanding,” Heller said. “The ups and downs, and especially the slow start, were surprising. Usually when those things happen you can kind of feel them coming based on how you train and how the practices are going. I just would say there were a lot of things that happened that were out of our control.
“I certainly am not happy with the result, or with not going further in postseason or any of those things. But I’m really proud of this group for not collapsing because there were some times if you would have had a bad culture or a weak group there could have been a lot of finger pointing or there could have been guys that gave up or guys that showed a bad attitude because there was every opportunity for all those thing to happen at points during the season and they just kept playing together. All of us believed that at some point it was just going to click and we were going roll, and unfortunately, the uncontrollables and bad luck just kept coming our way.”

In addition to hiring a pitching coach, Heller also has to replace some key position players, and almost certainly some key pitchers, namely Brecht, who projects as a potential first-round pick in the 2024 draft as junior.
Heller also believes that Morgan will enter the 2024 draft despite his struggles this season.
“I do think that those two, and Brody for sure,” Heller said. “It would surprise me if (Brody) made it to the 20th pick. But I was surprised when Cooper DeJean didn’t go, either.
“And with Marcus, he’s going to go, whether it’s the first day or second day. I have no idea. But I’m pretty sure he’s going to go.”
Southpaw Cade Obermueller was Iowa’s third starter this season, along with Brecht and Morgan.
And while Obermueller is just a sophomore, he meets the age requirement to be eligible for the 2024 draft.
“Cade Obermueller will be an interesting one because he kind of holds the golden ticket,” Heller said. “Here’s that rare kid that has a birthday that falls in that two-to-three-week window.
“When I say it’s the golden ticket, he has two leverage years so he can go and see what teams are going to offer him this year, and if it’s not what he likes, he has a decision to make on whether he wants to bet on himself and come back and see if he can move himself into a high first-round spot. And I think that’s a good bet if he doesn’t get the money that he wants this year.”