KNOXVILLE-Dave Serrano’s whirlwind Wednesday spilled over into Thursday’s early-morning hours.
After accepting an offer to become Tennessee’s new baseball coach, the 46-year-old Serrano had to wait for his wife and three sons to arrive in Knoxville after thunderstorms delayed their flight from Atlanta.
“They didn’t land till 1:30 [a.m.] – their flight was delayed – and we actually got in the car from the airport,” Serrano said in Lindsey Nelson Stadium’s first-base dugout following his introductory news conference Thursday afternoon. “I brought them down here and we were walking the grounds at 2 in the morning.
“That’s the little kid in me, but that’s how proud I am to show my family where we’re going to spend our lives.”
After 15 years as an assistant and head coach on the West Coast at Cal State Fullerton and California-Irvine, Serrano returned to Knoxville to take the reins of a Volunteers program that hasn’t reached the eight-team Southeastern Conference tournament in the past four seasons.