WaPo: Maryland baseball coach John Szefc is leaving for Virginia Tech

Maryland baseball coach John Szefc is leaving for Virginia Tech

Maryland baseball coach John Szefc, who led the Terrapins back to national relevance after decades of dormancy, is leaving College Park to become the head coach at Virginia Tech.

Szefc, 49, was hired by the Hokies on Friday morning and will be relied upon to revive a program that hasn't been to the NCAA tournament since 2013. Szefc will replace Pat Mason, who was fired last month after compiling a 90-126-1 record during his four seasons in Blacksburg.

"I'm thrilled, humbled and honored to begin this new challenge at Virginia Tech," Szefc said in a statement. "As an opposing coach, I always enjoyed our visits to Virginia Tech and appreciated the beauty of the campus and the Blacksburg community. Our family is beyond excited to call Blacksburg our new home."

Maryland will immediately begin a national search for Szefc's replacement.

Maryland endured 31 consecutive losing seasons in the Atlantic Coast Conference before Szefc arrived in 2012 to replace Erik Bakich, who left to take the head coaching job at Michigan that spring. Szefc built an immediate winner. During his second season in 2014, Maryland won 40 games and made its first appearance in the NCAA tournament super regional. Maryland returned to the NCAA tournament in 2015, the program's first back-to-back appearances since 1970-71, and finished with a school-record 42 wins and another trip to the super regional.

In all, Szefc won 180 games during his five seasons and led the Terrapins to three NCAA tournament appearances over the last four years, including this past season, when it finished 38-23. He reached 150 wins at Maryland faster than any other coach.

"John did a tremendous job taking Maryland baseball to new heights," Director of Athletics Kevin Anderson said in a statement. "The foundation John laid helped put Maryland on the college baseball map. He created a winning culture that we could all be proud of."

Szefc, who had received a raise to $251,000 annually after the 2015 season, will guide a Hokies program that will have a $18 million upgrade to its stadium facilities next season. Virginia Tech went 23-34 this season and has made the NCAA tournament just twice in the past seven seasons.

"The opportunity to return to the ACC and have our team play in an amazing baseball facility simply added to the appeal of coaching the Hokies," Szefc said. "I understand and embrace the expectations that come with this leadership position."

Forums: 
DISCLAIMER: Forum topics may not have been written or edited by The Key Play staff.

Comments

Please join The Key Players Club to read or post comments.

A decade on TKP and it's been time well spent.

Please join The Key Players Club to read or post comments.

Outspoken team cake advocate. Hates terrapins. Resident Macho Man Gif Poster. Distant cousin to Dork Magic. Frequently misspells words.

Please join The Key Players Club to read or post comments.

What a savings

And there's a chance that things'll get weird
Yeah, that's a possibility

Please join The Key Players Club to read or post comments.

the numbers don’t lie and they spell disaster

Please join The Key Players Club to read or post comments.

Warning: this post occasionally contains strong language (which may be unsuitable for children), unusual humor (which may be unsuitable for adults), and advanced mathematics (which may be unsuitable for liberal-arts majors)..

Please join The Key Players Club to read or post comments.

"What are you going to do, stab me? - Quote from Man Stabbed

Please join The Key Players Club to read or post comments.

I can imagine no more rewarding a career. And any man who may be asked in this century what he did to make his life worthwhile, I think can respond with a good deal of pride and satisfaction:
“I served in the United States Navy"