Kevin Vance recalls growing up on the ballfields around San Diego County, playing youth baseball leagues at Palomar College before starring at Torrey Pines High School.
Vance, a two-way standout as a shortstop/pitcher, was focused on playing, but a seed was planted then for a career in coaching. He watched, he learned, he listened. Vance embraced the fundamentals with fascination and soaked up the strategy like a sponge. He wanted to know everything and envisioned being the one to direct things from the dugout.
“It just seemed really cool, like a good job,” Vance said.
The thought was encouraged by his father, Tom, a local lawyer.
“He worked really hard, too hard,” Vance said. “To the point that I think he wished he was a high school teacher and a coach. … He did great for himself, but he worked really hard. Late nights and all that.”
Coaches, especially at the college and professional levels, work hard, too.
There’s one big difference: It’s baseball.
“I always wanted to play in the big leagues,” said Vance, whose five-year pro career topped out at Triple-A. “That was the goal, right? And then do something in baseball (after). I felt like this was the right thing to do.”
After a decade rising through the ranks, first at his alma mater of UConn, then at Rhode Island, Boston College and Arizona, Vance gets the chance to have his own program in his hometown.
Hired in June after two years as Arizona’s pitching coach, Vance, 35, is just the seventh head coach in San Diego State’s 90-year history. He replaces Shaun Cole, who was dismissed after two years. SDSU begins the 2026 season Friday night when it opens a three-game series against Long Island University at Tony Gwynn Stadium.
Vance takes over a once-proud program that hasn’t had a winning record in four years and hasn’t reached an NCAA Regional in eight years.
He is optimistic that a roster that includes 20 transfers, 12 returners and eight freshmen has the talent to make the postseason this season.
“We’ve set that goal since Day 1,” he said. “The pillars of our program — diplomas and championships — are the first things that come (to mind), so our goal is to win a Mountain West championship and get to a regional.
“This program has never been to a Super Regional or Omaha (for the College World Series). I don’t want to shy away from saying that, but why not do it this year? That would be a pretty crazy turnaround, but I like the putting-into-existence-by-speaking stuff. Why not?”
Kevin Vance is the seventh head coach in the San Diego State baseball program’s 90-year history. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
Vance’s conference peers do not share his optimism.
The Aztecs have been picked to finish seventh in the nine-team Mountain West. No SDSU player made the 13-man preseason all-conference team.
“We’ve got a good group,” Vance said. “They’re all gelling together, and I’m excited to get them out there. There’s a lot of talent, not a lot of experience, so we’ve got to get them out there and get them going … I think we have the talent, but it’s baseball, so you never know how it goes. … But I really like where we’re at, and I’m happy with the guys. They’re working hard.”
There is always chaos amid a coaching change. More than a dozen SDSU players hit the transfer portal before Vance hired. SDSU’s only returning starters are outfielders Jake Jackson (.249, 4 HR, 31 RBIs), Zane Kelly (.285, 23 RBIs) and Drew Rutter (.237, 15 RBIs).
Jackson, a Madison High School graduate, said he “wasn’t totally confident” he was going to return to SDSU. A meeting at Vance’s introductory news conference helped convince him to stay.
“It was good vibes, and I knew I wanted to come back,” Jackson said. “He showed dedication to wanting to bring the program back to how it was and take it to another level. I think his commitment to winning at a high level was a big thing that I really liked.”
Vance doesn’t just talk about reaching the next level. He knows what it looks like. He was hired at SDSU a week after coaching with the Wildcats in the College World Series.
Among Vance’s pitchers at Arizona was junior right-hander Bryce McKnight, who followed Vance from Tucson to San Diego. In the fall, McKnight’s Aztecs teammates asked for a scouting report on their new coach.
“I told them he’s a good coach,” McKnight said. “He’s laid back, but has a goal and is very dedicated to that goal. He’s the same as he was when he was the pitching coach. He’s focused on the pitchers, but it’s cool to see him also focus with the hitters and managing defensive plays and all that stuff as well.”
Vance leans into both analytics and the mental side of baseball.
Analytics “changed my whole career as a coach,” Vance said. “As a player, I was coming up in the minor leagues during the whole renaissance. There were a lot of things that I did well that I think no one knew that I did well because you couldn’t measure it. …
“I could get swings and misses at the top of the (strike) zone. At the time, people were still saying, ‘Throw it at the bottom of the zone.’ I think that probably hurt me in my career. I’ve made a pledge to myself to never do that to another player. Figure out what each guy’s strength is and how that plays, because you can measure it now.”
Vance credits Ryan Holiday’s 2014 book “The Obstacle is the Way” for informing the mental approach.
“Those are the margins that we need to win,” Vance said. “The mental side, because, you know, we’re going to play a lot of teams more talented than us, for sure. But, like I said to our guys, we’re at the threshold of talent where we can beat anyone if we do things the right way — and if we’re mentally strong.”
Vance’s No. 1 focus has been on building team culture, but he’s also made an effort to reconnect with alumni. The Aztecs recently held their inaugural “Dinner on the Diamond” at Tony Gwynn Stadium.
SDSU legend Stephen Strasburg, who signed on in the fall as a special assistant to the head coach, is among those impressed with the new coach.
“He comes from a very good program over there (at Arizona),” said Strasburg, who recently provided the funds for a new outfield wall. “He’s been all over the country, and his success is really everything that I think this program needs. It’s just about being here to help make sure that he has the resources at his disposal to get the players the most out of their games.”
A small club
Kevin Vance is just the seventh coach in 90 years of SDSU baseball.
Coach (Years): Record (Pct.)
Charlie Smith (1936-64): 555-289-10 (.656)
Lyle Olsen (1965-71):181-134-9 (.573)
Jim Dietz (1972-2002): 1,231-750-18 (.620)
Tony Gwynn (2003-14): 363-363 (.500)
Mark Martinez (2015-23): 257-217 (.542)
Shaun Cole (2024-25): 37-76 (327)
Kevin Vance (2026)
San Diego State vs. LIU
What: 2026 season opener
When: 6 p.m. Friday
Where: Tony Gwynn Stadium