Terry Rooney is staying at UCF, at least through the 2014 season.
Amid rumors of a possible interest in the head coaching vacancy at Notre Dame, Rooney signed a contract extension with the Knights, ending speculation that the two-year head coach could bolt for the Fighting Irish.
“I am really excited about continuing on as head baseball coach here at UCF,” Rooney said in a phone interview. “I feel we have accomplished quite a bit the first two years here with our coaching staff, and I think the future is extremely bright. When I accepted this job two years ago, we certainly had high expectations to continue to elevate our baseball program to the highest level.
“I feel we are on our way to do that, and I am very pleased and feel very fortunate that the administration feels the same way.”
Rooney, who won 33 games in 2010 and led the Knights to 10 wins in Conference USA play, the most since the Knights joined C-USA in 2005, was a rumored candidate for the Notre Dame position but said this contract shows how committed he is to staying in Orlando.
“The only thing I’m going to say in reference to that is obviously, I am very excited to be here at UCF,” Rooney said. “I think the contract certainly demonstrates the commitment that I have to be here long term. That’s what I set out to do when I accepted this position was to be here and build this program to the upper echelon in the country, and we are on our way to doing that.”
Under Rooney, the Knights improved their win total by 11 games in 2010.
He brought in the No. 4-ranked recruiting class prior to the season, and the program saw arguably it’s best offensive season ever under the head coach.
“I am very pleased with the progress of our baseball program under coach Rooney,” UCF Director of Athletics Keith Tribble said in a release. “We’ve continually improved during his first two seasons at UCF, both academically and athletically. With his exceptional recruiting, we’ve established ourselves as a program that can now compete for our conference championship in upcoming seasons.”
As for Rooney, he says it’s important to have management in place that believes in the vision he has for the program.
“We talk about it all the time, you are only as good and successful as the people that you are around,” Rooney said. “I just feel so fortunate to have the administration here that we do in Keith Tribble and [Senior Associate Athletic Director for Internal Operations] David Hansen, two people that are tremendous supporters of our program. It’s great to know that people here in the university, the community and nationally see the direction this baseball program is going.”
Despite being on the road recruiting, Rooney has been trying to make time to watch some of the matchups in the College World Series.
It’s a place he’s familiar with and hopes he can lead his team there under the span of his new contract.
“Anytime I get a chance to watch the World Series I certainly do,” Rooney said. “It’s a place that I’ve been and certainly a place I hope to bring our baseball program to. Like I said, I want our kids to embrace that and I want people to embrace that here in our baseball program. To have a chance to see those outstanding teams compete I hope gives our players motivation.”