Virginia Tech Hires John Szefc Away From Maryland
John Szefc (Photo by Andy Mead/YCJ/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Virginia Tech on Friday announced it has hired John Szefc away from Maryland to be its new head coach.
Szefc spent five seasons at Maryland, guiding the Terrapins to three NCAA Tournament appearances and back-to-back super regionals in 2014-15. In addition to his experience at Maryland, he was head coach at Marist for seven seasons and has a career record of 392-259-3 in 12 seasons.
In Szefc’s first two seasons at Maryland, the Terrapins competed in the Atlantic Coast Conference, before moving to the Big Ten Conference. He said in a statement he was attracted to Virginia Tech in part by the prospect of returning to the ACC, as well as the ongoing renovation of English Field at Union Park, scheduled to be completed by the start of next season.
“I’m thrilled, humbled and honored to begin this new challenge at Virginia Tech,” Szefc said. “As an opposing coach, I always enjoyed our visits to Virginia Tech and appreciated the beauty of the campus and the Blacksburg community.”
Virginia Tech went 23-32 this spring and tied for last in the ACC. It fired coach Patrick Mason at the conclusion of the season after four years.
Maryland, which was ranked No. 24 in the preseason, went 38-23 and reached the NCAA Tournament for the third time in four seasons. The Terrapins went 1-2 in the Winston-Salem Regional.
Szefc’s first experience as a head coach came at Marist from 1996-2002. He led the Red Foxes to the NCAA Tournament four times. Szefc left Marist to become the recruiting coordinator at Louisiana-Lafayette, later moving on to hold the same role at Kansas and Kansas State.
Now, he will take over at Virginia Tech, under athletic director Whit Babcock, who has a strong baseball background. He is a member of the NCAA Tournament selection committee, played baseball at James Madison and is the son of former JMU coach Brad Babcock.
Babcock said in a release that Szefc will be a strong fit at Virginia Tech because of his experience in the region and the conference.
“The addition of another prove winner like John to our roster of talented head coaches gives another reason to be encouraged that the Hokies can compete at a championship level in the ACC and return to the NCAA Tournament,” he said.
| 2017 COACHING CHANGES | ||
| School | Departures | Arrivals |
| Alabama | Greg Goff | Brad Bohannon |
| Cincinnati | Ty Neal | Scott Googins |
| Citadel | Fred Jordan | |
| Dayton | Tony Vittorio | |
| Incarnate Word | Danny Heep | |
| La Salle | Mike Lake | |
| Louisiana-Monroe | Bruce Peddie | |
| Maryland | John Szefc | |
| Massachusetts | Mike Stone | Matt Reynolds |
| North Florida | Smoke Laval | Tim Parenton |
| Santa Clara | Dan O’Brien | |
| South Carolina | Chad Holbrook | |
| Southern | Roger Cador | |
| Stanford | Mark Marquess (retiring after season) | |
| Tennessee | Dave Serrano | Tony Vitello |
| Texas-Rio Grande Valley | Manny Mantrana | |
| Towson | Mike Gottlieb | |
| Virginia Tech | Patrick Mason | John Szefc |
| Xavier | Scott Googins | |
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