Head coach of the Chico State volleyball team, Cody Hein, died on Friday, Jan. 24 at 47 years old. His passing was due to an ongoing heart condition.  

Hein finished up his 17th year leading Chico State volleyball. With a total of 265 wins at Chico State, he has established himself as the most winningest volleyball coach in Chico State history. Additionally, Hein has earned CCAA Coach of the Year honors and was selected as 2016 West Region Coach of the Year. 

He led the Wildcats to six postseason births, four National Collegiate Athletic Association Championship Tournament appearances, 46 postseason conference awards, 28 All-West Region selections and 12 All-American honors.

Hein grew up in the Central Valley and was diagnosed after birth with a serious heart condition. He underwent three major heart surgeries, one in which replaced a portion of his heart with a prosthesis, by the age of 14.

Upon graduating from UC Berkeley in 1994, Hein went on to earn his master’s degree in sports management from Barry University in 2003.

Before getting hired at Chico State, Hein was the head volleyball coach at the Florida Institute of Technology. Here, he led the Panthers to a 46-44 record over three seasons, broke the university’s record for total wins in a season and ranked in the South Region’s Top 10. 

Hein went into his last heart surgery in Oct. 2018. Due to post-surgery complications, he spent six months at Stanford Hospital in the Bay Area before returning home to Chico in March 2019.

His health challenges included regular dialysis treatments and as a result, Chico State decided to hire Tommy Gott as the new head coach in Jan. 2019. Gott, a Chico native, was an assistant on the team for eight years. 

Chico State University will share details about Hein’s service when more information is provided. The university flag will be lowered next week in his honor.

Hein is survived by his wife, Dana, and three sons, Austin, Jackson and Davis.