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inside.hokiesports.com
43
A
provenwinner, a history of buildingwinning traditions in
difficult places, and Mid-Atlantic recruiting connections
all led to Whit Babcock tabbing John Szefc as the new head
coach of the Virginia Tech baseball program.
Babcock, Tech’s director of athletics and a recent member
of the NCAA baseball selection committee, made his
decision public in a June 9 release, and Szefc—pronounced
“sheff”—met with media members and donors at a news
conference held June 15.
Szefc comes to Tech after spending the past five seasons
as the head coach at Maryland, where he led the Terrapins
to three NCAA appearances and a 180-122 overall record. In
his second season in College Park, he led Maryland to its first
NCAA appearance in 43 years.
“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. I appreciate the trust and
confidence that Dr. [Tim] Sands [university president],
Whit, John [Ballein, a senior associate AD] and everyone
at Virginia Tech is placing in me.
“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. I understand and embrace the
expectations that come with this leadership position. I can’t
wait to meet the team and get to work.”
Szefc, who signed a seven-year contract that starts by
paying him $400,000 in the first year, brings extensive
baseball experience to Blacksburg, both as a head coach and
an assistant. The Drexel University graduate worked for four
seasons as an assistant at his alma mater and one season at
Sacred Heart before landing the head job at Marist College in
Poughkeepsie, New York in 1995.
He served as the head coach at Marist for seven seasons,
racking up 212 wins and leading the program to four NCAA
regional appearances. Following the 2002 season, he made
the rare move of jumping back into the assistant ranks,
taking a job as an assistant coach at Louisiana (formerly
known as Louisiana-Lafayette).
“In 2000, we were in Louisiana-Lafayette’s regional,”
Szefc said. “That was my second regional at Marist [of four].
I got to know those guys [the Louisiana-Lafayette coaches]
pretty well, particularly Wade Simoneaux, who was the first
Szefc
ready
to return to
the ACC – and to
REBUILD
Tech’s
baseball program
Continued on page 44
IHS
extra
John Szefc turned the fortunes of
Maryland’s baseball program,
and with a renovated facility on
the horizon, he looks forward to
doing the same in Blacksburg
by
Jimmy Robertson
