Former Cerritos College Player-Coach Hired by University of Tennessee

Editor's Note: This information was provided by the Cerritos College Athletics Department.

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 today. 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," he said. "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 MLBplayers 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.