I had such high hopes for Serrano. I remember when he was hired, there was a debate on this forum about his credentials. I can't remember who the ones were who were against the hire, but I thought they were wrong. Boy, were they ever proven right. He may be the worst coach on the UT payroll in the major sports...and that's saying something, given the current state of affairs.
I'll admit right up front that I was leery given that his degree is from a diploma mill.
Bottom line is that his small ball game just never did translate to success in SEC/ACC level baseball. It was successful on the west coast, because that's what they play there. But not here.
And what was puzzling is that Serrano's reputation was of being a pitching guru, but his pitching during his entire tenure at UT has been dismal.
And, yep, I have heard all of the excuses about how many players he lost to pro ball. But so does everybody else in the SEC. You've got to have a backup plan, which he never had in his tenure here.
And the Vanderbilt excuse of their endowment schollies was always used in his defense. That is all good and fine, but he was never even close to catching the other state universities that were finishing ahead of him every year, much less Vanderbilt.
Just not a good fit from day one.