Joe Jordano resigns as baseball coach

Joe Jordano resigned as head coach of Pitt’s baseball team Thursday night, according to a report from the Post-Gazette. An official announcement released by the University Friday afternoon confirmed his resignation.

“I am honored to have had the opportunity to lead this program with integrity, passion and loe for the past 21 seasons,” Jordano said in the statement. “It was my objective each day to provide an environment to allow our players to achieve a high level of success.”

Though the team never made it to the NCAA tournament during his 21 years at Pitt, Jordano sets the record for most wins during any Pitt Baseball coach’s time in the program with an overall record of 588-522-2 over his two-decade tenure.

The 2017-18 was the Panthers’ most successful season under Jordano. They finished with a 29-26 record — the most wins in a single season since joining the ACC in 2013. Pitt went on to beat No. 8 Georgia Tech and No. 1 North Carolina in the ACC Baseball Championship, making it to the ACC semifinal for the first time in program history.

Prior to his resignation, Jordano took to Twitter to express his excitement for next year’s season.

Jordano’s replacement will be the seventh head coach hire by Athletic Director Heather Lyke in less than two years on the job.

“For more than two decades, Joe has been the face of Pitt baseball,” Lyke said in the statement. “He responded to the challenge of moving into the ACC by building a strong and competitive foundation. Our task now is to build upon that foundation and continue our upward climb in the nation’s best baseball conference.”