Eleven months and four days ago, Penn baseball coach Bob Seddon announced he would retire after this season. After almost a year, he now has a successor.
John Cole, now the head coach at Division III Rowan University, will replace Seddon next season.
So far this year, Cole has led the Profs to a perfect 13-0 record, which has earned them the top ranking in the Collegiate Baseball Magazine Division III poll.
In his just-over-six seasons in Glassboro, N.J., -- his first head coaching position -- Cole's record is 200-63.
He was named the 2003 New Jersey Athletic Conference and New Jersey Collegiate Baseball Association Coach of the Year. With a 31-10 record, Rowan made the NCAA regionals.
The Allentown, Pa., native holds a bachelor's degree in physical education after graduating from Ithaca College in 1986.
He then played with the Class A Boise Hawks of the Northwest League for a year before returning to school and getting a Master's degree from North Carolina in 1988.
He then went on to his coaching career, starting with an assistant position with the Tar Heels from 1986-88, and then going to Allentown College from 1989-90, Dartmouth from 1990-92, and William and Mary from 1992-1998.
Cole and his wife Elizabeth have two young children, Cassandra, 3, and Kevin, 1.
He did not return a phone call seeking comment last night, but said in a statement that he is "look[ing] forward to that challenge and [is] anxious to get started."
