Penn State baseball coach Rob Cooper resigns
Penn State baseball is moving in a new direction. Announced Friday afternoon via press release, the Nittany Lion program will be without Rob Cooper, who is resigning.
“I am beyond grateful for my time as the head baseball coach at Penn State,” said Cooper via press release. “This is a special place, because of the special people who make it up. My family and I love Penn State.
“While I am disappointed I wasn’t able to get the baseball program the success it deserves, I am excited about the vision Dr. Kraft has for Penn State Athletics, the student-athletes and the baseball program.”
Cooper has been with the program for the past 10 seasons. Over that span, he has helped guide the Nittany Lions to 197 wins. Against Big Ten competition, the program has won 69 games against 157 losses.
The Nittany Lions are currently 6-15 in the Big Ten ahead of Friday evening’s regular-season finale at Medlar Field. They have lost their last nine games.
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“We appreciate Rob Cooper for all he has done for the Penn State community these last 10 seasons,” Pat Kraft said via press release. “I have a tremendous amount of respect for Rob for not only the commitment he made to our baseball program, but also the way he represented Penn State University with class. I want to thank Rob, and wish him, his wife, Maureen, and his family nothing but the best in the future.”
The program is moving forward with what it is describing as a national search for its next head coach. The program made the Big Ten Tournament just once in Cooper’s 10 seasons in charge, though the 2020 campaign was short-circuited due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Coming out of his tenure, Cooper left the program with words of encouragement for its next steps.
“Penn State baseball is in good hands,” he said. “The next coach will love Penn State, the people and the community as much as my family has. I wish our players nothing but success and happiness. We Are!!!”
