May 20, 2013

2013 Coaching Changes

Georgia Dismisses Perno

David Perno (left) has reached the College World Series as a Georgia player, assistant coach and three times as a head coach. He won’t get another chance to return to Omaha with the Bulldogs.

Perno, head coach at Georgia for the past 11 years, has been dismissed as Bulldogs coach according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

The Bulldogs (7-20, 21-32) took two of three from Florida to end their season, and Perno reportedly met with Athletic Director Greg McGarity and Ted White, Georgia’s athletic administrator for baseball, Sunday evening and was dismissed.

In its history, Georgia has made 11 NCAA postseason appearances. Under Perno, the Bulldogs reached the NCAA Tournament six times in 11 years and played in the College World Series in 2004, 2006 and 2008 – that final CWS team lost to Fresno State in three games in the championship series. He is one of 12 coaches in NCAA history to take three teams to the College World Series in his first seven years as head coach.

But the Bulldogs have finished above .500 in the SEC once in the past four years (2011), a span where they have gone 40-72. This year’s struggles in the SEC came in a year when Georgia was hoping to improve on two seasons of roughly .500 ball in the league – 11 of its 20 SEC losses came by three or fewer runs.

Perno was an infielder on Georgia’s 1990 national title team and also served as an assistant on the 2001 team that reached the College World Series. He was named National Coach of the Year in 2004 by CollegeBaseballInsider.com and Baseball America.

(photo courtesy of Georgia Media Relations)