Dave Serrano - Head Coach - Baseball Coaches

Photo by: Paul Trafecanty

Dave Serrano

Title:
Head Coach
Email:
dave.serrano@csun.edu
Phone:
7055

A six-time NCAA Tournament head coach, Dave Serrano completed his third season at the helm of the Matador baseball program in 2022. He completed a 34-year coaching career and his 16th as a Division I head coach following the 2022 campaign.

One of the most experienced and respected coaches in college baseball, Serrano coached 26 seasons at the Division I level. He is one of 13 coaches all-time to lead two schools to the College World Series. Serrano finished his head coaching career with a 509-348-1 overall record along with a 63-46 record at CSUN.

As a head coach or an assistant coach, Serrano was 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 spent a majority of his Division I coaching career in the Big West Conference. The 2022 season marked his 18th season as a coach in the Big West. Overall, he won eight Big West championships as a coach in the league.

In Serrano's final season with the Matadors, CSUN finished with a 32-22 record and fourth in the Big West with a 17-13 conference record. The Matadors posted a winning conference record in back-to-back years for the first time since joining the Big West while their .567 conference winning percentage was the team's best since 2002. Four Matadors earned all-conference honors including three first-team selections - the most for the program in 20 seasons.

Serrano coached the Matadors' pitching staff to a 3.94 ERA, which ranked 11th best in the nation in 2022. The staff ranked third in the Big West in team ERA and fourth in opposing batting average (.265).

In 2021, Serrano helped lead the program to a 21-19 record in a conference only schedule. CSUN's offense ranked near the top of the conference in several categories including leading the Big West in stolen bases (60) and walks (198) in league play. The Matadors posted their highest on-base percentage (.388) since 2002 and their best batting average (.296) in 11 seasons.

Serrano's first year at the helm saw CSUN race out to a 7-0 start, the program's best seven-game start in 27 seasons. CSUN finished 10-5 before the season was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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. Named Big West Coach of the Year in 2010 and 2011, Serrano coached the Titans to three conference titles. 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 All-Conference honorees. As a head coach, 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. The Vols posted three winning seasons under Serrano. He coached a total of 23 MLB Draft picks including two first-round selections in Nick Senzel and Christin Stewart.

Following his first year in Knoxville, Serrano 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 Bill Kinneberg's USA Collegiate National Team in Tokyo, Japan while he was the head coach of the Titans.

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.

He earned a bachelor’s degree from Trinity College and University in 2003.

Serrano's Head Coaching Record

Year	School	Overall Record	Conf. Record (Place)	Postseason
2005	UC Irvine	31-25	10-11 (5th)
2006	UC Irvine	36-24	11-10 (3rd)	NCAA Regionals
2007	UC Irvine	47-17-1	15-6 (T-2nd)	College World Series
2008	Cal State Fullerton	41-22	16-8 (T-1st)	NCAA Super Regionals
2009	Cal State Fullerton	47-16	17-7 (2nd)	College World Series
2010	Cal State Fullerton	46-18	21-3 (1st)	NCAA Super Regionals
2011	Cal State Fullerton	41-17	19-5 (1st)	NCAA Regionals
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)
2020	CSUN	10-5	-
2021	CSUN	21-19	21-19 (T-4th)
Totals	15 Seasons	477-326-1	185-189 (3 Titles)