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Former Cerritos College baseball player, assistant
coach and head coach Dave Serrano
has been named the head coach at the University of
Tennessee, and will be introduced to the school on
Thursday. Serrano, who played for the Falcons
(1984-85), also served as an assistant coach
(1988-90, 92-94) and head coach (1991), has spent
the last four years as the head coach at Cal State
Fullerton.
"After an overwhelming 24 hours of events, I have made the
decision to leave a great program at Cal State
Fullerton to take on the challenge of returning the
University of Tennessee to a spot among the nation's
elite," Serrano said on the University of Tennessee
website. "While this decision was not an easy one,
it makes it a little easier to say yes when you have
an entire family completely in support for you. We
hope to be proud and active members of the Knoxville
community and will work hard to give Volunteer fans
a baseball team that they can cheer on for years to
come."
Back in 1995-96, Serrano was hired as an assistant coach for
the Volunteers after working on the Falcon staff for
seven seasons. In his first season with Tennessee,
he was part of a team that advanced to the College
World Series and featured MLB players Todd Helton
and R.A. Dickey. In his two years with the Vols, the
team posted a 97-36 record.
But Serrano's life-long goal was to coach at Cal State
Fullerton and was brought in after the 1996 season
to coach with longtime friend George Horton,
another former Cerritos player and head coach.
Serrano was an assistant under Horton from 1997-2004
until he was hired as the head coach at UC Irvine.
He led the Anteaters to the College World Series in
2007 before being named the head coach at Cal State
Fullerton. Serrano, who owns a lifetime coaching
record of 289-139-1, is a veteran of seven College
World Series and is one of just 11 coaches to lead
two different programs to Omaha.
During his 17 seasons at the Division I level, Serrano has
posted an impeccable track record that includes
continuous top 25 recruiting classes and 16
postseason bids. He has also tutored 161 draft
picks, including seven first-round selections,
dating back to his coaching career at Cerritos in
1988, a total of 23 of which have reached the Major
League level.
As a player, Serrano was a member of the 1985 state
championship team with the Falcons and posted a 12-1
record, while being named All-American. He moved on
to Cal State Fullerton in 1986 and went 3-4 with one
save in 15 appearances. As an assistant coach with
Cerritos, Serrano was part of another state
championship team (1989), while he was 28-16 in his
lone season as the head coach, while being named the
South Coast Conference Coach of the Year.
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