Koppmann takes over a Regent team then finished 17-27 last season.

Rockford College names Bob Koopmann new baseball head coach
ROCKFORD, Ill. -- Rockford College Director of Athletics Hank Espensen recently announced the hiring of Bob Koopmann as the new head baseball coach at Rockford College. Koopmann was most recently head coach at Ashford University in Clifton, IA and bench coach for the Rockford Riverhawks. Koopmann takes over a Regent team that finished 17-27 in 2005.

“We are pleased to have a coach with Bob's background and experience to lead Rockford College's baseball program,” Hank Espensen said. “Coach is well known and very active in the community. His ideas on academics, athletics, and community mirror those of the college.”

“I jumped at the chance to become head coach at Rockford as soon as I heard about the opening,” said Coach Koopmann. “My family and I have been in Rockford for several years, and love the area. The opportunity to keep my family in this community and coach at an institution with such high standards, both athletically and academically, make this position a perfect fit.”

In addition to his two years at Ashford University, Koopmann has spent the last five years with the Riverhawks, including three years as manager, winning the 2004 Frontier League Championship. Koopmann also spent seven years as head baseball coach at Illinois Valley Community College, amassing over 240 wins, four sectional and three regional championships, and winning Junior College Region Coach of the Year honors three consecutive years. Before beginning his coaching career, Koopmann was an All-American player at Harper Junior College and spent three years in the Pittsburgh Pirates minor league system. Koopmann graduated from Northeastern Illinois University in 1994 with a degree in Physical Education and is currently pursuing a master's degree at the University of Illinois.

Release courtesy of Rockford College, Sports Information Department, August 28, 2006.