The 2014 campaign will be the third with the RiverHawks as the team’s hitting coach, duties which he shares with head coach Travis Janssen. He has spent the previous six seasons coaching at the Division I, Division II and high school levels. Hess’ other coaching duties include working with the outfielders, recruiting, coaching first base, defensive positioning and structuring the strength and conditioning program for position players.
During the 2013 season, Hess helped tutor an NSU offense that ranked first in the country in homeruns (69) and homeruns per game (1.35), while also finishing fourth in the nation in slugging percentage (.511). The team also finished in the top 30 of several other offensive categories including scoring, runs scored, doubles and hit-by-pitches. The RiverHawks hit .309 as a team and finished with an overall record of 28-23, which marked the most wins in a single season since 2002.
During his first year as an assistant in 2012, the RiverHawks finished with a respectable .292 batting average on their way to a 25-24 overall record. The 25 wins marked a 19-win improvement from the previous season, which stood as the third-best turnaround in all of Division II.
Prior to his current stint at NSU, Hess coached for one year at Kansas State University where he worked for head coach Brad Hill as an undergraduate assistant on a team that finished 36-25. The Wildcats advanced to their third straight regional that season.
Hess’s coaching career began when he was hired at Manhattan High School by his father and head coach Don Hess, who is regarded as one of the most respected coaches in the history of Kansas high school baseball.
Hess also spent the last two summers coaching on collegiate summer teams.
In the summer of 2012 he was an assistant coach for the Edenton Steamers of the Coastal Plains League. He helped guide them on their way to being first- and second-half champs with an overall ranking of No. 15 in the nation by Perfect Game.
He was the head coach of the Derby Twins in the Jayhawk League in Kansas this past summer.
While working at Manhattan High School, Hess spent two summers coaching for the American Legion team and one summer coaching for the Midwest Wolverines out of Wichita, KS.
Hess received his bachelor of science degree in Kinesiology from Kansas State University in 2011 and completed his master of science degree in health and kinesiology at Northeastern State in May 2013. He is the son of Don and Linnea Hess and has an older brother Ben and a younger brother Garrett.
