Kevin Vance Introductory Press Conference Quotes

San Diego State Baseball
Head Coach Kevin Vance
Introductory Press Conference Quotes
June 18, 2025
Fowler Athletics Center

San Diego State Director of Intercollegiate Athletics John David Wicker
Opening Statement: “I appreciate everybody taking some time out of their day to join us on what is an exciting day for San Diego State University, and in particular, our baseball program. We're excited to introduce our new head coach. It was a good process, we went through a national process, and there was a ton of excitement around our program, and people were referring to it as a sleeping giant, and a program that can achieve so much. We do have a lot of history in this program, but consistent history is something that we're excited to move forward to and excited by the people that we got to talk to and the excitement in the program, but we’re really excited to introduce Kevin Vance as our new head baseball coach, joining us from the University of Arizona where he was most recently the pitching coach.

Kevin is a San Diego native, played at Torrey Pines (High School), so he knows the area, he knows the community, and he's familiar with Southern California. He had a great baseball career at the University of Connecticut, was an All-American there as a pitcher, then turned that into a into a minor league career, so he's had some pro experience as well, and then went back to UConn as a volunteer assistant, and has been at University of Rhode Island, Boston College, and most recently at the University of Arizona. He's seen a lot of success over his years. He's a pitching coach, so understands that side of the game and the importance of it. And again, as you've moved through time, you've seen that his teams, and his pitchers, have had great success. We've talked to a number of people out there, ADs that he's worked with, and he comes with the highest credentials. So, we're really excited about what Kevin's going to bring to our program.

At San Diego State we have three core pillars. Even as we move into this new day and age of college athletics, our three core pillars will not change: athletic success, academic success, and then a life skills program that's unmatched by anybody in the country. And as we talked to Kevin, those were key elements for him as well, it's not just the baseball side, it's also the development of young men as they travel through their time at San Diego State, and we ensure that when they leave San Diego State, whether they're going to go play minor league and pro baseball, or whether they're going to graduate school, or whether they're getting into the workforce, it is important that they've learned those life skills throughout their time on the baseball diamond, in the classroom, just in their life on campus, that they're prepared and ready to go. So that was something that was very important to us as we talked to Kevin that he understood that's our culture, and that's who we are, and it's not going to be something that is strange or different for him to get to. So, we’re very excited about this opportunity to name Kevin Vance, the seventh head coach all-time of San Diego State baseball.”

San Diego State Baseball Head Coach Kevin Vance
Opening Statement: “I want to thank JD, President (Adela) de la Torre and (Deputy Athletic Director) Tim (Lanski) for getting me here. It's been a fun and long road for me. I'm finally back home and excited to be here. All the alums that were involved in the process, Stephen Strasburg, Tony Gwynn Jr., and Bud Black, those guys were awesome to talk to and see what this thing's all about and see what their vision is. They're fired up to keep this thing going. There's a lot of people that care about this program, and I understand that and the history of it. Former players, the administration, and just the people in the community. This community does mean a lot to me. My roots are here, so I'm super grateful to become this program's head coach. I grew up going to games here. I played in the CIF championship game here in high school, we lost. I made an error in left field in the first inning, so I still think about that all the time. But it's just great to be here and get back to my roots that I think run really deep here, and I understand I'm part of something much bigger than myself. I always wish I could have come here and played here, but I ventured off and took a different path to get here, but I am super grateful to be a part of this and understand that it is much bigger than just me. I'm excited to carry on the legacy of Tony Gwynn, my real childhood idol. I still have two autographs in my house, and he's one of them, and I've had that forever, and I cherish that. I've been close to Tony and this program, my mom worked for Channel Eight News and was behind one of those cameras for her whole life, so I appreciate it, and I appreciate everyone being here to support us.

This is really a dream come true for me. I've had a lot of really good coaches that have helped me get here. My college coach, coaches in high school, a lot of really good mentors that I've learned from and picked up on a lot of things from different backgrounds, different perspectives. So, I'm excited to bring all those perspectives and make them mine and start to build this program. I want to thank my family, especially my mom, my favorite Aztec, she's an alum from here. She's listening right now. ‘Love you, Mom.’ But I'm excited to be a part of the community of San Diego and on campus, get to some basketball games, football games, every sport, and get the fellas there too. That's a big part of what we're going to do and get out there and do it.

So, I'm ready to get out on the field. I know we’ve got a few couple months left, a lot of work to do to build this thing, keep the players here and build this roster out for next year. But I'm excited to get to work and work with the players. We're going to get better every day, on and off the field with attention to detail, whether it's base running, pitching, hitting, and then also when you leave the field, knowing to turn it off. But we got to get better off the field, to work on your relationships and become better people, that's what it's all about. It's never really been just about baseball. For me, baseball is just the vehicle, and it's a tough vehicle too. It's a mean game, and it will teach you a lot. So, using baseball to make these guys better men, better sons, better husbands, that's what it's all about, and baseball will speed that up for you. So, I’m excited to get to work with the guys and make them the best version of themselves, and that's important to me. It's also important to me for them to know that they can lean on me and build some genuine relationships with them and allow them to go and be themselves on the field, off the field, and create a comfortable environment and culture for them to grow as people and be themselves. We're going to coach them hard with some attention to detail, but it's going to be fun. I'm excited to focus on the things that are important right now, whether you're on the field, or off the field, but we’re going to have some fun with it.

I’m here to create leaders and better men, and that's the bottom line. We're going to win some ball games while we do it, but the wins are just a by-product of that. Developing these guys as baseball players and men will always be number one, and I'm excited to get going.”

On being back in his hometown:
“I have a ton of friends that went here. As I said, my family went here. So, I know what it can be, and that's the exciting part. I know how much people are thinking about this place and what it can be and that's super exciting.”

On his vision and making it a reality:
“My vision is big. I've got big dreams for this. We need to be competing for championships every year. One of my goals, and we got to put in the work, but I want to host regionals at Tony Gwynn Stadium. I think that's very doable with what we have and what we can do. So, yeah, I’ve got big goals. I want to win year one, but it takes a lot of effort, so we’ve got some work to do, and we’ve got to get to work here pretty quickly to do that. But winning championships will always be the goal. I’d love that for next year, but we’ve got to put in a lot of work to do that.”

On priorities over the next few weeks:
“Number one priority is going to be retaining the guys that are on the roster now, making sure that they know what they're getting, and they're going to get better here and are bought into what we're doing. The current roster, there's a ton of talent on it, and so that's number one. The transfer portal is real, and we will use that to fill in the cracks essentially. But we want to build from within and keep the guys that we have now.”

On what he’s most looking forward to:
“Building the relationships with the players. Getting to know these guys and gaining their trust. So then, they trust me, then they'll trust me with their development, and that'll speed up the process.”

On if he feels like an alum since he’s a local:
“Yeah, like I said, I’ve got a lot of family and friends that went here. So yeah, I do. It's always been a part of my life, going to games, growing up, watching Stephen Strasburg throw 100-101 in college, so yeah, I do feel like sort of an alum.”