If it takes an arm and a leg for Tennessee coach Dave Serrano to succeed, he's already halfway there.
"They told me to break a leg, so I did," Serrano joked about his fall last Tuesday, causing him to have surgery for the first time.
Serrano "didn't foresee" the fall, but smiled and said, "This won't stop me."
It shouldn't, either, especially after the Torrance, Calif., native hired Greg Bergeron, his associate head coach during his seven-year tenure at Cal. State Fullerton and UC Irvine, Cerritos College colleague and long-time friend Bill Mosiello, and volunteer assistant head coach Greg Wallis, a former player for the Diamond Vols coach.
The decision to acquire these familiar faces was "a plus for us" in which UT baseball's coaching staff can get right to work.
"We don't need to get familiar," Serrano said.
Bergeron will be looking for the UT bats to deliver the same scorching heat he's been trying to get used to here in Knoxville as his past batting units did back at UC Irvine and Cal. State Fullerton.
For the past seven years, Serrano's associate head coach has helped build offenses that have improved year after year in batting average, slugging percentage and on-base percentage.
From 2005 to 2007, UC Irvine smacked 292 doubles while sending 80 balls over the fence; CS Fullerton's double-to-homerun ratio, from 2008 to 2011, was 486 to 191.
The only prior experience Serrano and Bergeron had together against SEC teams came this past season at CS Fullerton when LSU swept the Titans in three games.
That's where Bosiello comes in; despite only one season as a hitting coach at Auburn in 2008, the long-time friend of Serrano helped the Tigers average .301 in batting (fifth in the SEC), .475 in slugging and slam an SEC-second 63 doubles.
As a combined unit, the coaching staff hasn't had success against its future conference —11-22 in the SEC (including an 0-6 record against LSU) — but Bergeron believes the pressure falls on how the players react to their new system.
"There's always going to be pressure," Bergeron said. "Our pressure will be trying to get these guys on board."
The former El Camino College head coach wasn't just talking about the current Diamond Vols players, but also prospects in the state of Tennessee that Bergeron wants to migrate to Knoxville instead of Nashville.
"We've got to keep the local guys local," the UT associate head coach said. "We know Vanderbilt has a strong hold."
Wallace, who will be filling in for Serrano in recruiting responsibilities while the Vols baseball coach gives his leg time to heal, is optimistic about "being a part of the best."
"We like to thrive off of development," the former four-time Big West scholar-athlete said. "It's going to be a step process.
"Any expectations are ones we have on ourselves."
While Wallis won't meet the team until school begins next month, he's pretty confident in the reaction he's seen in the summer, saying the players "seem to be on board."