When he went out for varsity football at Brockton (Mass.) High as a sophomore, Bob Coolen lined up at the same position as Ken MacAfee.

Which is to say he played deep shadow that season. That the 6-foot-5 MacAfee would go on to become a three-time All-American tight end at Notre Dame, a third-place finisher for the Heisman Trophy and first-round draft choice of the San Francisco 49ers in 1978, suggests how much of one Coolen spent the year in.

The experience no doubt helped prepare Coolen for some of what he has faced as the University of Hawai'i head softball coach these past 17 years.

Next to Rainbow Wahine volleyball coach Dave Shoji's 33-year reign, Coolen is the longest-serving of UH's 16 active head coaches. But for all the success his teams have enjoyed on the diamond — and there has been a solid, long-haul consistency to them — it has largely been a quiet, much overlooked existence.

Never mind that the Rainbow Wahine have seven NCAA tournament appearances. Forget that UH has finished lower than third in the Western Athletic Conference just once in the past 10 seasons, it has been, as even Coolen admits, "a very silent 17 seasons" in the public eye.

So much so that when Coolen got his milestone 700th victory as a head coach — 628-378-1 at UH — over the weekend it raised some eyebrows. More than a few people were surprised to discover Coolen had been at it long enough to have a 700-471-1 record.

Actually, he's been at it quite awhile here. This is in his 19th season at UH with two of them having been an assistant under Rayla Allison, whom he succeeded in 1992.

"But it doesn't surprise me at all," said Allison, now a Minnesota attorney and professor. "I knew he was a good coach and it was just a matter of time until he (piled up the) wins there."

In the process, the Rainbow Wahine have been consistent performers on the field and in the classroom. Last season's march to the NCAA Super Regional had UH one victory from crashing the Women's College World Series.

Still, until last year when the state began to take wider note, the Rainbow Wahine might be the best program you'd hardly heard of on the crowded UH campus. "We've been in sort of an anonymous state of affairs and sometimes that gets a little frustrating," Coolen said. "But that is just the way it is. We're one of those sports where we're not in the limelight (that much). We just go about our business."

Business is, once again, booming. The No. 16 Rainbow Wahine are 31-11 (7-1 WAC) and leading the conference. If they can successfully negotiate the upcoming eight-game road trip, they could be very much back at it in the NCAAs.

Meanwhile, Coolen & Co. are chipping away at that shadow some more.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8044.