David Scott Serrano (born June 28, 1964) is an American college baseball coach and former pitcher. Serrano formerly served as head coach at Cerritos College from 1984 to 1985 and at California State University, Fullerton from 1986 to 1987 for coach Augie Garrido. He served as the head coach at University of California, Irvine from 2005 to 2007, Cal State Fullerton from 2008 to 2011, the University of Tennessee from 2012 to 2017 and CSU Northridge from 2020–2022.

Dave Serrano
Current position
TitleHead Coach
TeamJohnson University
ConferenceAppalachian Athletic Conference
Record24-21
Biographical details
Born (1964-06-28) June 28, 1964 (age 60)
Torrance, California, U.S.
Playing career
1984–1985Cerritos
1986Cal State Fullerton
Position(s)Pitcher
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1988–1990Cerritos (asst.)
1991Cerritos
1992–1994Cerritos (asst.)
1995–1996Tennessee (asst.)
1997–2004Cal State Fullerton (P/RC)
2005–2007UC Irvine
2008–2011Cal State Fullerton
2012–2017Tennessee
2018West Virginia (P)
2020–2022Cal State Northridge
2023-presentJohnson University
Head coaching record
Overall561–385-1 (.593)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
2008 Big West Conference
2010 Big West Conference
2011 Big West Conference
Awards
2007 Baseball America National Coach of the Year
2010 Big West Coach of the Year

Playing career

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Serrano graduated from Cerritos High School in 1982 and pitched two seasons at Cerritos College. He went 12–1 and earned JC All-American honors in 1985 while leading the Falcons to a 39–5 record and a state championship. Serrano then pitched for Cal State Fullerton in 1986, recording a 3–4 mark with one save in 15 appearances. He earned his bachelor's degree from Trinity College and University (now Bronte International University), an unaccredited institution.[1]

Coaching career

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He began his coaching career as an assistant to George Horton at Cerritos College in 1988. He succeeded Horton for the 1991 season after Horton left to become associate head coach to Augie Garrido at Cal State Fullerton. Serrano returned to assistant coaching duties for 1992–94 for the Falcons before going to Tennessee, where he served two seasons as pitching coach for Rod Delmonico. The Volunteers went 97–36 and made their first trip to Omaha in 44 years in 1995, when they were twice routed by Fullerton's third national championship team.

Serrano would become the pitching coach and recruiting coordinator for former Titan head coach Horton and the Titans for the 1997 through 2004 seasons. During Serrano's 8-year tenure at Fullerton, the Titans went 356–154–1 (.698) and were in the NCAA Tournament every season. They won six Big West Conference championships, four NCAA Regionals and four NCAA Super Regionals to earn four trips to Omaha. In 2004, he was named the ABCA/Baseball America Assistant Coach of the Year.[2]

Every one of Serrano's Fullerton recruiting classes was ranked in the nation's Top 20. He also has nurtured a long list of pitchers who went on to play professionally, including Chad Cordero. He tutored six conference pitchers of the year and of the 25 All-American players at Fullerton during his tenure, 15 were pitchers.

He left after the Titans' fourth national championship to become head coach at UC Irvine, where he compiled a 114–66–1 (.633) record over three seasons and took the Anteaters to their first College World Series appearance in 2007. Their 47–17–1 season earned Serrano national coach of the year honors from Baseball America,[3] which had ranked him as the nation's top assistant coach in 2004 with the Titans. He developed three more All-American pitchers at UCI.

Serrano took over the Fullerton State Titans baseball team in 2008. He led the Titans to the NCAA tournament every year that he served as head coach. He also helped guide the Titans to the College World Series in 2009. Serrano's teams went on to play in Super Regionals in each of his first three seasons with Fullerton. The 2008, 2010, and 2011 Titans teams won the Big West Conference championships. He compiled an overall record of 175–73 in his four seasons with the Titans.[4]

Serrano was announced as the Tennessee Volunteers baseball head coach on June 15, 2011, replacing Todd Raleigh.[5] He did not have a winning record in conference play in six seasons with the Vols.[6] He resigned at the end of the Volunteers' 2017 season.[7]

On July 3, 2017, Serrano was named the West Virginia Mountaineers' pitching coach.[8] WVU and Serrano had a "mutual parting of ways" after one season.[9]

On June 24, 2019, Serrano was named the head coach for the Cal State Northridge Matadors.[10] On January 25, 2022, Serrano announced his retirement from coaching, effective end of season.

On July 10, 2023, Serrano came out of retirement and took over the reigns as head coach at Johnson University in Knoxville, Tennessee.[11] Taking over a program that was 5-44 (4-26 in the AAC Conference) the previous season, Serrano turned things around quickly. He led the Royals to an impressive 24-21 overall mark which included winning the last 6 consecutive games to earn a post-season bid for the first time in school history. The 24 overall wins and 14 AAC Conference wins are both new school records.

Head coaching record

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Statistics overview
Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
Cerritos Falcons (South Coast Conference (CCCAA)) (1991–1991)
1991 Cerritos College 28-16 18–6
Cerritos College (JUCO): 28-16 18-6
UC Irvine Anteaters (Big West Conference) (2005–2007)
2005 UC Irvine 31–25 10–11 5th
2006 UC Irvine 36–24 11–10 3rd NCAA Regional
2007 UC Irvine 47–17–1 15–6 T–2nd College World Series
UC Irvine: 114–66–1 36–27
Cal State Fullerton Titans (Big West Conference) (2008–2011)
2008 Cal State Fullerton 41–22 16–8 T–1st NCAA Super Regional
2009 Cal State Fullerton 47–16 17–7 2nd College World Series
2010 Cal State Fullerton 46–18 21–3 1st NCAA Super Regional
2011 Cal State Fullerton 41–17 19–5 1st NCAA Regional
Cal State Fullerton: 175–73 73–23
Tennessee Volunteers (Southeastern Conference) (2012–2017)
2012 Tennessee 24–31 8–22 6th (East)
2013 Tennessee 22–30 8–20 6th (East)
2014 Tennessee 31–23 12–18 5th (East)
2015 Tennessee 24–26 11–18 6th (East)
2016 Tennessee 29–28 9–21 T–6th (East)
2017 Tennessee 27–25 7–21 7th (East)
Tennessee: 157–163 55–120
Cal State Northridge Matadors (Big West Conference) (2020–2022)
2020 Cal State Northridge 10–5 0–0 Season canceled due to COVID-19
2021 Cal State Northridge 21–19 21-19 T-4th
2022 Cal State Northridge 32–22 17–13
Cal State Northridge: 63–46 38–32
Johnson University Royals (Appalachian Athletic Conference) (2024–present)
2024 Johnson University 24-21 14-16 7th AAC Tournament
Johnson University (NAIA): 24-21 14-16
Total: 561–385–1

      National champion         Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

Personal

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He and his second wife, Tracy, have three sons: Kyle, Zachary, and Parker. [citation needed] Kyle played for Dave at Tennessee.[12]

References

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  1. ^ Gribble, Andrew (July 15, 2011). "Degree of scrutiny for Dave Serrano". GoVolsXTRA.com. Knoxville News-Sentinel Company. Archived from the original on July 16, 2011. Retrieved June 5, 2018.
  2. ^ "ABCA/Baseball America Assistant Coach of the Year". www.abca.org. AMERICAN BASEBALL COACHES ASSOCIATION. Retrieved October 25, 2018.
  3. ^ "Head Coach Dave Serrano shares his outlook on the upcoming college baseball season". CSTV. January 20, 2008. Archived from the original on January 30, 2008. Retrieved July 7, 2010.
  4. ^ Dave Serrano Profile on Cal State Fullerton Titans Website
  5. ^ Serrano Hired at Tennessee
  6. ^ Vols baseball hires Dave Serrano
  7. ^ "Baseball Coach Dave Serrano to Resign". utsports.com. May 17, 2017. Archived from the original on May 21, 2017. Retrieved May 17, 2017.
  8. ^ Dave Serrano Named WVU Pitching Coach
  9. ^ "After 'mutual parting' with Dave Serrano, West Virginia adds OSU assistant". WV Metro News. June 26, 2018. Archived from the original on June 26, 2018. Retrieved June 26, 2018.
  10. ^ "Former Tennessee baseball coach Dave Serrano hired at Cal State Northridge". USA Today. June 25, 2019. Retrieved June 26, 2019.
  11. ^ "Johnson University Welcomes Dave Serrano as Head Baseball Coach". johnsonroyals.com. Retrieved May 21, 2024.
  12. ^ "Kyle Serrano likely out for the season".
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