Vols head baseball coach Dave Serrano will resign at the end of the season.
He told the team his decision on Wednesday. Serrano will continue coaching until the end of the season. At that point, Larry Simcox will be the interim coach while Tennessee conducts a search for a new head coach.
“On Monday evening, (Tennessee AD) John (Currie) and I had what I felt was a very honest and productive conversation about the Tennessee baseball program,” Serrano said in a press release. “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."
In Serrano's first five seasons at Tennessee, the Vols reached the SEC tournament three times and finished no higher than fifth in the SEC East. He took both UC Irvine and Cal State Fullerton to the College World Series but failed to reach the NCAA Tournament at Tennessee.
With three games remaining in Serrano's sixth season at UT, the team sits in last place in the SEC East with a 7-18 record in conference play and 27-22 record overall.
Unless Tennessee sweeps Missouri and South Carolina sweeps Georgia this weekend, the Vols will not reach the SEC tournament.
“I have no regrets about taking on this challenge six years ago," Serrano said. "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.”
Since 2011, every SEC baseball program, except Tennessee, has reached the NCAA Regionals (Missouri did it in 2012 as a member of the Big 12). The Vols haven't been to the NCAA Tournament since 2005, when Rod Delmonico led them to the College World Series.
Serrano had a top-20 recruiting class in each of his years at Tennessee but was often hurt by the draft. For example, four of Serrano's signees were taken in the top four rounds of the 2015 MLB Draft and all four went pro instead of coming to Tennessee.