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Bob Coolen Head Shot 2025

Bob Coolen

The 2025 season of the Rainbow Wahine softball program will be the 34th under head coach Bob Coolen and his 36th overall with the program. 

CAREER RECORD
Overall record: 1,172-809-1 (39th season)
At Hawai'i: 1,100-716-1 (34th season)
Big West: 214-203 (18 season)
 
COACHING EXPERIENCE
Hawai‘i- Head coach (1992-present)
Hawai‘i- Assistant coach(1990-1991)
Bentley University - Head coach (1984-1989)
 
NCAA COACHING RANKINGS
  • Winningest Coaches of All-Time by Victories - No. 24
  • Winningest Active Coaches by Victories- No. 5
  • Winningest Active Coaches by Percentage - No. 55
  • Winningest Coaches of All-Time by Victories - No. 17
ACCOLADES
  • Six-time conference Coach of the Year. (BWC-1994, 2013 /  WAC- 2003, ’07, ’10, ’12)
  • The only head coach in program history to lead UH softball into post-season action with 11 NCAA tournaments. (1994, ‘95, ‘98, ‘99, 2001, ‘03, ‘07, ‘08, ’10, ‘12 and ‘13)
  • Has led the Rainbow Wahine to a pair of NCAA Super Regionals in 2007 and 2010
  • In 2010, led Hawai‘i to the program’s first ever appearance in the NCAA Women’s College World Series (Oklahoma City, Okla.)
  • Won two Big West Conference championships. (1994, 2013)
  • Won four Western Athletic Conference championships (2003, ’07, ’10, ’12).
  • Is the second longest-tenured coach at UH.
 COACHING HIGHLIGHTS AT UH
  • He is one of only four coaches at UH to achieve 1,000 career wins. 
  • Currently the second longest-tenured coach UH.
  • In the last home series of 2024, Coolen celebrated his 1,100th win at Hawai‘i
  • In 2022, won his 1,100th career game in the first week of the season with a 7-5 win over CSU Bakersfield
  • Has notched 50 wins or more in a season three times (1994, 2007, 2010).
  • Has won 40 or more games 10 times (1994, ’95, ’98, ’01, ’03, ’07, ’08, ’10, ’12, ’13)
  • In 2010 Hawai‘i was named the Easton Team of the Year.
  • Set a new Women’s College World Series attendance record in 2010, drawing the largest single-session crowd ever—9,080— against Arizona (6/2/2010) at the ASA Hall of Fame Stadium (Oklahoma City, Okla.)
  • Has coached 18 All-American who have earned 34 All-American honors combined (NFCA, Easton, ESPN.com).
  • Has coached 42 players who have earned 62 National Fastpitch Coaches Association All-West Region awards
  • UH has had 44 players garner 84 All-Big West honors / 45 players earning 88 All-Western Athletics Conference awards for a grand total of 89 players who have earned 172 all-conference honors combined in the Big West and WAC.
  • 58 players have earned 111 Big West All-Academic honors / 38 players earned 64 WAC All-Academic awards to total 96 players earning 175 all-conference academic honors combined.
  • Three CoSIDA Academic All-American players- Tracy Loo (1992), Stephanie Ricketts (2012), and Kelly Majam (2013).
  • Fourteen players have earned CoSIDA Academic All-district honors
  • In 2010 held a 19-1 record against conference opponents in the WAC, winning both the season and tournament titles.
  • The 2010 squad picked up the program’s highest national ranking ever at No. 7 to finish the season.
  • The 2010 team held the NCAA record for home runs (158) and home runs per game (2.39) in a single season.
  • Holds the program record with a 21-game win streak from the 2012 season.
  • The Winningest season came in 2012 with a program-high .830 winning percentage at 44-9.
  • The 2012 team ranked as high as No. 11 in the NFCA polls and finished the season at No. 1 in ranked pitching staff in NCAA DI with a 1.40 team-ERA bolstered by Stephanie Ricketts and Kaia Parnaby.
  • Holds the program mark for most wins in a season with 51, a record set during the 1994 season.
  • UH has been the No. 1 ranked team in the Big West in double plays turned by the defense for the last three season.s In 2022, UH led the nation in double plays averaging .62 per game. 
 
PRIOR TO UH
  • Holds the most wins at Bentley University (formerly Bentley College) with 72 over five seasons. 
  • Coached Bentley to a school-record 21 wins in 1989. 
 
OTHER HIGHLIGHTS
  • Became the 31st NCAA coach to reach 1,000 wins in their career on Mar. 4, 2017 
  • Inducted into Brockton High School Hall of Fame in 2011 after a successful prep and collegiate career as an athlete and his stellar career coaching career at UH. 
 
PLAYING EXPERIENCE
  • Three-sport athlete at Wesleyan University (football, baseball, and swimming)
  • Team captain of Wesleyan University baseball and football as a senior.
  • Helped lead Wesleyan University to a “Little Three” conference title in 1980. 
 
EDUCATION
  • B.A. in government with an emphasis on public-policy analysis from Wesleyan University in Middletown, Conn.
  • M.Ed. in human movement from Boston University. 
 
HOMETOWN
  • Somerville, Mass. 
Coolen Family - 2023
The Coolen Family - Coach Bob, Sam (daughter-in-law), Colt (grandson), Bo (son), Nanci (wife), and Demi (daughter)
Year Conference W L T PCT W L PCT.
1992 Big West 34 33 - .507 13 23 .361
1993 Big West 24 35 - .407 9 23 .281
1994 Big West 51 14 - .785 25 7 .781
1995 Big West 47 21 - .391 21 11 .656
1996 Big West 36 25 - .590 15 17 .469
1997 Western Athletic 37 25 1 .595 18 14 .563
1998 Western Athletic 46 15 - .754 22 8 .733
1999 Western Athletic 35 23 - .604 16 8 .667
2000 Western Athletic 25 24 - .510 11 9 .550
2001 Western Athletic 46 18 - .718 16 4 .800
2002 Western Athletic 35 25 - .583 15 9 .625
2003 Western Athletic 40 20 - .667 17 3 .850
2004 Western Athletic 28 33 - .400 10 14 .417
2005 Western Athletic 31 21 - .600 12 6 .750
2006 Western Athletic 32 22 - .592 10 7 .588
2007 Western Athletic 50 13 - .793 16 2 .888
2008 Western Athletic 40 21 - .656 10 7 .588
2009 Western Athletic 30 24 - .556 15 6 .714
2010 Western Athletic 50 16 - .757 19 1 .950
2011 Western Athletic 37 18 - .672 14 7 .667
2012 Western Athletic 44 9 - .830 17 3 .850
2013 Big West 45 13 - .776 20 4 .833
2014 Big West 22 28 - .440 7 14 .333
2015 Big West 32 22 - .593 13 8 .619
2016 Big West 24 30 - .444 8 13 .381
2017 Big West 29 23 - .558 8 13 .381
2018 Big West 23 27 - .660 7 14 .333
2019 Big West 33 16 - .673 14 7 .667
2020* Big West 9 15 - .375 - - -
2021* Big West 12 19 - .387 11 13 .558
2022 Big West 23 19 - .548 17 10 .630
2023 Big West 30 27 - .526 13 14 .481
2024     Big West    20 26 - .435 13 12 .520
TOTALS 1,100 716 1 .606 452 311 .592