Maryland baseball coach John Szefc leaving for Virginia Tech

John Szefc helped turned Maryland baseball into a nationally relevant program during his five seasons with the Terps. Whatever the next step is, he won’t be around for it.

Szefc accepted the head coaching job at Virginia Tech on Friday morning. He’s back in the ACC, and Maryland is back on the search.

“I’m thrilled, humbled and honored to begin this new challenge at Virginia Tech,” Szefc said in a release. “As an opposing coach, I always enjoyed our visits to Virginia Tech and appreciated the beauty of the campus and the Blacksburg community. 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.”

Szefc brought the Terps to their first NCAA Tournament in 43 years during his second season. Maryland advanced to the super regionals in both 2014 and 2015, the farthest the program has ever gone in the postseason. Szefc finished his tenure in College Park with a 180-122 record across five years.

He now becomes the second straight Maryland coach to leave for a program not considered a national powerhouse: Eric Bakich departed for Michigan in 2012. Szefc will surely earn a raise from his $251,000 base salary from 2016, and he’ll have to raise up another program in Blacksburg. The Hokies went 23-32 this season, and fired head coach Pat Mason after four years.