Click here to watch a video about Coach Dave
One of the most experienced and respected coaches in college baseball, Dave Serrano has spent 25 seasons coaching at the Division I level including 15 seasons as head coach. Serrano is one of 13 coaches all-time to lead two different schools to the College World Series. In his six NCAA Tournament trips as a head coach, he has led four teams to the NCAA Super Regionals.
As a head coach or an assistant coach, Serrano has been a part of seven College World Series and 16 NCAA Tournaments. He won a National Championship as an assistant coach at Cal State Fullerton in 2004. Over his extensive coaching career, Serrano has coached 47 future MLB players and 211 MLB Draft selections including 11 first-round picks.
Serrano began his head coaching career at UC Irvine in 2005 where he led the Anteaters to two NCAA Regionals in three years and the school's first-ever trip to the College World Series in 2007. That year Serrano led UCI to a school-record 47 wins and was named Baseball America National Coach of the Year. With the Anteaters, Serrano coached two-time All-American Scott Gorgen, 17 All-Big West selections and 17 major league draft picks as well as NCAA all-time saves leader Blair Erickson. A total of 13 additional players he coached went on to be drafted by Major League teams after leaving the program.
Serrano took over head coaching duties of Cal State Fullerton in 2008, leading the Titans to the postseason in each of his four seasons. His squad advanced to the Super Regionals in his first three years, highlighted by a College World Series trip in 2009. His four teams produced 21 All-Americans, a Big West Pitcher of the Year, two Big West Players of the Year, a Big West Freshman of the Year, three conference freshman pitchers of the year, 14 All-Big West First Team selections and 35 overall All-Conference honorees. As a head coach of the program, 31 Titans were selected in the MLB Draft while an additional four players were selected by Big League teams after he left Fullerton. Serrano coached three first-round selections including Gary Brown, Christian Colon and Michael Lorenzen.
Serrano spent six seasons as head coach at the University of Tennessee from 2012-17 where each of his recruiting classes ranked in the top-20 nationally. He coached a total of 23 MLB Draft picks including two first-round selections in Nick Senzel and Christin Stewart.
Serrano also served as head coach of the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team where he led the team to a 12-5 record and a bronze medal at Honkbal Week in the Netherlands. Serrano had previously represented his country in 2010 as the pitching coach for the USA Collegiate National Team in Tokyo, Japan. In 2010, he helped guide a staff headlined by several 2011 MLB First-Year Player Draft first round picks, including Gerrit Cole (No. 1 overall, Pittsburgh Pirates), Sonny Gray (No. 18 overall, Oakland Athletics), Matt Barnes (No. 19 overall, Boston Red Sox), Tyler Anderson (No. 20 overall, Colorado Rockies), and Sean Gilmartin (No. 28 overall, Atlanta Braves).
Serrano also spent the 2018 season at West Virginia as the Mountaineers' pitching coach. He worked with future MLB Draft first-round pick Alek Manoah who went on to pitch for the Toronto Blue Jays.
From 1997-2004, Serrano served eight seasons as the pitching coach and recruiting coordinator at Cal State Fullerton. The Titans posted an impressive 346-154-1 record with Serrano on the bench including four College World Series trips and eight NCAA Regional appearances. In the Titans' national championship season in 2004, Serrano received Baseball America Assistant Coach of the Year honors.
Prior to Fullerton, Serrano was an assistant coach at Tennessee from 1995-96. He helped the Volunteers earn a pair of NCAA Tournament bids as well as the team's first trip to Omaha in 44 seasons in 1995.
Serrano began his coaching career at Cerritos College in 1988. He completed a seven-year stint that saw the Falcons win a state title in 1989 and five conference championships. In his one year as head coach, Serrano was named South Coast Conference Coach of the Year in 1991.
Serrano graduated from Cerritos High School in 1982. He played at Cerritos College for two seasons where he earned Junior College All-America accolades. Serrano led the Falcons to a state title in 1985 as he compiled a 12-1 record on the mound. He played one season at Cal State Fullerton under head coach Augie Garrido in 1986.
