Nick Derba came to the University of Maine in 2013 to start his career as a baseball coach.
He had recently hung up his catcher’s gear after a six-year career in the St. Louis Cardinals system that included 61 games at the Class AAA level.
Never could the native of Queens, New York, have imagined that only three years later he would be a Division I head coach.
The 31-year-old Derba on Saturday was announced as the Black Bears’ interim head coach after 11-year coach Steve Trimper accepted the head coaching position at Stetson University in Deland, Florida.
“I wasn’t expecting it to happen here at Maine and I wasn’t expecting it to happen as soon as it has,” said Derba, who also played under Trimper at Manhattan College before being selected in the 30th round of the 2007 major league draft.
“I’m very happy the opportunity has occurred at a place like Maine and with the guys that we have. I don’t know if I could have asked for a much better situation,” Derba said.
Derba already was a key member of the staff and spent the last 17 months as UMaine’s associate head coach. His new appointment coincides with the semester break, which will give him a few weeks to begin putting his own stamp on the program.
The Black Bears begin full-team workouts on Jan. 22, 2017, in anticipation of their Feb. 17 season opener at Winthrop University in South Carolina.
“I guess the thoughts are, business as usual. I don’t know if the transition’s going to be too crazy,” said Derba, pointing to the support of a capable staff.
His assistants include Conor Burke, former UMaine standout Scott Heath of Westbrook and volunteer assistant Taylor Lewis, a former Black Bears star who is completing his degree work at UMaine. Derba hopes Heath will be promoted from volunteer status.
Derba will continue to work with the hitters but will spend more time with the pitchers. Burke will coach hitting, Heath will work with the pitchers and Lewis will concentrate on outfield play and baserunning.
“These guys know the system. I feel like we have a very professional staff,” Derba said.
He said he already has reached out to all current players, National Letter of Intent signees and verbal commits by phone to touch base and allay any fears they may have had.
“I know that the team is very excited and having that support from the players is huge,” Derba said.
Derba said it is hard quantify how his approach might differ from that of Trimper, whose teams compiled only a 68-92 record over the last three seasons.
“My biggest thing is that we’re a very disciplined team that is extremely aggressive” and not afraid to make mistakes, Derba said.
He is looking forward to the challenge of being in charge and isn’t concerned about having the interim tag attached to his job title.
“If we do our job, do it right and Karlton likes it, we’ll be back here [next year],” Derba said, referring to UMaine athletics director Karlton Creech.
He believes his time spent in the minor leagues helped him develop baseball knowledge and put him in situations where he faced frequent challenges and criticism.
“I was lucky enough to learn from what I think is the best organization in baseball and learning the Cardinal way is something that I hope we can instill here and kind of intertwine with the Black Bear way,” Derba said.
“Besides the X’s and O’s, it’s learning to go about your business day in and day out and really take pride in what you’re learning.”
This season’s UMaine baseball team has already shown Derba that it has the proper mix of work ethic and positive attitude.
He pointed out that UMaine has several players on the roster.
“There’s a special group here,” Derba said. “They’ve really taken to the culture of the program and they are really prideful that they play for the University of Maine.”