Vols baseball coach Serrano to resign at season’s end
KNOXVILLE — Dave Serrano’s tenure as Tennessee baseball coach will end when the Volunteers’ season does.
The university announced Wednesday afternoon that Serrano will resign at the end of the season after a “very honest and productive” conversation with new athletic director John Currie on Monday afternoon.
“My decision to step aside at season’s end is based off what I believe is in the best interest of our student-athletes and this program,” Serrano said in a release posted on the athletic department’s official website (utsports.com).
Serrano, who is in the last year of his contract, informed the team of his decision Wednesday.
The Vols (27-22, 7-18 Southeastern Conference) host Missouri (32-21, 11-16) to close the regular season, with that three-game series starting today and continuing through Saturday. To qualify for next week’s SEC tournament, Tennessee needs to win the series and have Georgia (23-30, 9-18) lose at least two games at South Carolina (31-21, 11-15) this week.
“I have no regrets about taking on this challenge six years ago,” Serrano said in the release. “It was a job I always coveted. My time living in this great community includes some of the best days of my life. My only disappointment is that we didn’t reach the expectations of success that I’ve strived to achieve for our fans, alumni and players.”
Tennessee has not qualified for an NCAA regional since 2005, under former coach Rod Delmonico, who was fired after the 2007 season. The Vols went 108-113 and failed to make the SEC tournament under Todd Raleigh from 2008 to ’11, with Serrano hired a month after Raleigh’s firing in May of that year.
Asked by the Times Free Press on May 9 about speculation surrounding his future, Serrano said he planned to coach until Currie “tells me my opportunity has been taken away.”
Serrano also highlighted that Tennessee has relied heavily on freshmen in 2017.
“My hope is that I get to see them through their future here at the University of Tennessee,” he said at the time.
But the Vols were outscored 30-10 while being swept this past weekend at Kentucky, seriously hurting their chances of making the SEC tournament.
Serrano took over in 2012 as a hire of interim athletic director Joan Cronan. Former athletic director Dave Hart extended Serrano’s contract to cover this season after the team went 29-28 in 2016.
“This program clearly means a great deal to Dave, and I appreciate that,” Currie said in the release. “He steps away with plenty to be proud of. The program possesses a talented and promising young core. And the culture of academic achievement he and his staff fostered yielded positive results in terms of APR scores and graduation success rates.”
Assistant coach Larry Simcox, a Chattanooga native and former East Ridge star, will serve as the interim coach during a national search for Serrano’s replacement, according to the release.
Serrano was a Vols assistant in 1995 and ’96. He returned to Knoxville after working as head coach at Cal State Fullerton, from 2008 to ’11 and taking the Titans to the College World Series in 2009. He was head coach at UC Irvine from 2005 to ’07 and took that program to the CWS in 2007. He is one of 12 coaches to lead two schools to the event.
Tennessee cracked the Top 25 early in 2014 but struggled in conference play. The Vols began the 2015 season ranked 25th but finished 24-26 overall and 11-18 in SEC play despite having touted pro prospects Nick Senzel, A.J. Simcox and Christin Stewart on the roster.
The Vols are 157-160, including 55-116 in the SEC, in six seasons under Serrano.
“I’m very proud of what we accomplished with the program internally, but I realize it ultimately comes down to wins and losses,” Serrano said. “I will always be a big Vol fan and will continue to support and cheer on this great university.”
Contact David Cobb at dcobb@ timesfreepress.com.