David Scott Serrano (born June 28, 1964) is an American

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played by Student athlete, student-athletes at institutions of higher education. In the United States, college baseball is sanctioned mainly by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA); in Japan, ...

coach and former pitcher who is the current head baseball coach of the Johnson Royals. Serrano formerly served as head coach at Cerritos College from 1984 to 1985 and at

California State University, Fullerton California State University, Fullerton (CSUF or Cal State Fullerton) is a public research university in Fullerton, California, United States. With a total enrollment of more than 41,000, it has the largest student body of the California State ...

from 1986 to 1987 for coach

Augie Garrido August Edmun "Augie" Garrido Jr. (February 6, 1939 – March 15, 2018) was an American professional baseball player and coach in NCAA Division I college baseball, best known for his stints with the Cal State Fullerton Titans and Texas Longhorns. ...

. He served as the head coach at

University of California, Irvine The University of California, Irvine (UCI or UC Irvine) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Irvine, California, United States. One of the ten campuses of the University of California system, U ...

from 2005 to 2007,

Cal State Fullerton California State University, Fullerton (CSUF or Cal State Fullerton) is a public research university in Fullerton, California, United States. With a total enrollment of more than 41,000, it has the largest student body of the California State ...

from 2008 to 2011, the

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee, Knoxville (or The University of Tennessee; UT; UT Knoxville; or colloquially UTK or Tennessee) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee, United St ...

from 2012 to 2017 and CSU Northridge from 2020–2022.

Playing career

Serrano graduated from

Cerritos High School Cerritos High School, also called CHS, is a comprehensive, four-year public high school located in Cerritos, California, serving grades 9–12. It is part of the ABC Unified School District. As of the 2014–15 school year, the school had an ...

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

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 Bronte International University (formerly known as Trinity College and University) is an unaccredited post-secondary educational institution formerly in South Dakota. It is widely considered to be a diploma mill, operated from an unknown locati ...

), an unaccredited institution.

Coaching career

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

at Cal State Fullerton. Serrano returned to assistant coaching duties for 1992–94 for the Falcons before going to

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

, 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 The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

Tournament every season. They won six

Big West Conference The Big West Conference (BWC) is an American collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference whose member institutions participate in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's NCAA Division I, Division I. The conference was origina ...

championships, four NCAA Regionals and four NCAA Super Regionals to earn four trips to

Omaha Omaha ( ) is the List of cities in Nebraska, most populous city in the U.S. state of Nebraska. It is located in the Midwestern United States along the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's List of United S ...

. In 2004, he was named the ABCA/''Baseball America'' Assistant Coach of the Year. 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 UC may refer to: Education In the United States * University of California system * University of Charleston, West Virginia * University of Chicago, Illinois * University of Cincinnati, Ohio * Upsala College, East Orange, New Jersey (''defunct ...

, where he compiled a 114–66–1 (.633) record over three seasons and took the Anteaters to their first

College World Series The College World Series (CWS), officially the NCAA Men's College World Series (MCWS), is a baseball tournament held each June in Omaha, Nebraska. It is the culmination of the NCAA Division I baseball tournament—featuring 64 teams in the ...

appearance in 2007. Their 47–17–1 season earned Serrano national coach of the year honors from Baseball America, 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

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

championships. He compiled an overall record of 175–73 in his four seasons with the Titans. Serrano was announced as the

Tennessee Volunteers baseball The Tennessee Volunteers baseball team represents the University of Tennessee in NCAA Division I college baseball. Along with most other Tennessee athletic teams, the baseball team participates in the of the Southeastern Conference. The Volunte ...

head coach on June 15, 2011, replacing Todd Raleigh. He did not have a winning record in conference play in six seasons with the Vols. He resigned at the end of the Volunteers' 2017 season. On July 3, 2017, Serrano was named the

West Virginia Mountaineers The West Virginia Mountaineers are the athletic teams that represent West Virginia University in Morgantown, West Virginia. The school is a member of National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I. The Mountaineers have been a membe ...

' pitching coach. WVU and Serrano had a "mutual parting of ways" after one season. On June 24, 2019, Serrano was named the head coach for the

Cal State Northridge Matadors The Cal State Northridge Matadors (branded as the CSUN Matadors) are the athletic teams that represent California State University, Northridge in Northridge, Los Angeles, California. The Matadors field 17 teams in nineteen sports. The Matadors ...

. 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 Knoxville is a city in Knox County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located on the Tennessee River and had a population of 190,740 at the 2020 United States census. It is the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division ...

. 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

Personal

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

References

External links

Biography at utsports.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Serrano, Dave 1964 births Living people Cal State Fullerton Titans baseball coaches Cal State Fullerton Titans baseball players Cerritos Falcons baseball coaches Tennessee Volunteers baseball coaches UC Irvine Anteaters baseball coaches Cerritos Falcons baseball players West Virginia Mountaineers baseball coaches Baseball coaches from California