



The Dave Serrano era of Tennessee baseball is officially coming to an end. Serrano has resigned effective the end of the season. A season that will likely come to an end this weekend with the Vols once again failing to qualify for the SEC Tournament.

Serrano informed his team of the decision this afternoon.

“On Monday evening, John (Currie) and I had what I felt was a very honest and productive conversation about the Tennessee baseball program,” Serrano said in a statement. “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.

“I have no regrets about taking on this challenge six years ago. 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.”

Serrano came to Tennessee with great credentials taking both UC Irvine and Cal State Fullerton to the College World Series. Prior to returning to Rocky Top where he was an assistant, Serrano's teams had been to the NCAA Regionals or beyond in seven consecutive seasons.

He was unable to repeat that kind of success during his Tennessee tenure. Serrano enters the final series of the regular season this weekend against Missouri with an SEC mark of 55-116 in his six seasons as the Vols head man.

Serrano's program never finished higher than 5th in the SEC East and three of Serrano's six seasons in Knoxville ended with a losing record.

Baseball did record its highest multi-year APR with a 979 during the most recent academic year, which is up 14 points from last year and 45 points from three years ago, when it was at 934.

But on the diamond, Serrano could never duplicate his West Coast success in East Tennessee. New athletics director John Currie now has two coaching hires to make in his first two months on the job as the newly appointed AD is searching for not only a baseball coach but also a men's tennis coach.