Serrano named Diamond Vols coach | Sports

"It's baseball time in Tennessee!"

Those were the dynamic words that UT's newly hired baseball coach Dave Serrano delivered at his press conference in Lindsey Nelson Stadium.

Serrano is the 24th head coach in Diamond Vols history, but the second since Rod Delmonico's 18-year coaching run with UT ended in 2006.

It's not the first time UT has had the former Cal State Fullerton coach on its coaching staff. His first coaching job was a two-year stint under Delmonico as the Diamond Vols' assistant coach from 1995-96.

UT cruised to a 97-36 record in that two-year span, including a 54-win season in 1995.

Serrano returned to his home state of California to coach at Cerritos Community College where the former UT assistant coached for eight seasons and helped the Falcons to a 39-5 record and a state championship.

The Torrance, Calif., native was quick to address that watching the NCAA postseason is a new experience for him, even after this past season.

"I'm not accustomed to watching the Super Regional," Serrano said.

Despite the new feeling, though, the then-CS Fullerton coach noticed the competition in his future conference.

"Three of the eight teams ? Vanderbilt, Florida and South Carolina ? weren't just in the conference, but our own division," Serrano said.

The Diamond Vols coach will be looking to help the Orange and White compete in the SEC East division; in the last nine years, UT has only finished in the top two in the division once, in 2005, while failing to reach a conference record above .500 eight times in that span.

Serrano is aware of how great the competition is in the SEC, but his craving for winning just may be greater, saying he wanted to start winning "yesterday."

The former UT assistant coach may have returned to Rocky Top, but Serrano believed he'd been at Rocky Top for the last 16 years.

"I never left his place," the new coach added. "I left physically, but I never left emotionally."

One fan who's already expressing her excitement in the new hire is recently appointed interim Athletic Director Joan Cronan.

"It is an exciting day for Tennessee baseball," Cronan said. "It gives me goosebumps; last week we were talking about me being the interim and this week we're talking about something really exciting and that's bringing in somebody that can make a difference in our baseball program."

Serrano looks to turn UT's Lindsey Nelson Stadium into a "home-field advantage", as it was during his first tenure, with the help of Vol fans and students.

"When you support us, it'll help us, (and) you'll be part of our success," Serrano said. "I hope we can attract students because of the kind of style we play, the exciting brand of baseball, how we play and the winning style. When I was here in 95-96, I know the students made it pretty hostile for some of the opposing teams coming in and I hope we get that type of support as we continue to build this thing."

With memories of his first tenure still fresh in his mind, the new UT coach wasn't afraid to display his excitement about his return.

"This is a great day in my career. Go Vols!"

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheDailyBeacon/~3/_sruPpjAcBw/

euro 2012 craiglist tito ortiz pidgin coldplay alex rodriguez yemen