ASU baseball head coach Tracy Smith has been dismissed from his duties after seven seasons with the team, Vice President for University Athletics Ray Anderson announced in a statement Monday.
Smith accumulated a 201-155 record and made the postseason four times during his tenure with ASU. The Sun Devils were eliminated from the 2021 NCAA Baseball Championships Sunday following a 9-7 loss to Fairfield University.
"After speaking with Tracy Smith this afternoon, we have decided by mutual agreement that Coach Smith will not return as the head coach for Sun Devil Baseball next season," Anderson said in the statement. "Decisions like this are never easy to make, but I want to thank Tracy for his efforts over the last seven years."
In a press conference Monday, Anderson said the baseball program has been "mediocre" and cited it as one of the reasons he moved forward with the decision.
"I did not have the confidence that the program was going to elevate further and would not meet our needs going forward," Anderson said Monday. "It was the body of work over the seven years, ultimately, that led to the decision."
Anderson said he is looking for prospective candidates to "reenergize ASU baseball" and added they should "instill discipline, and focus and accountability and ... an intensity that we think is necessary to win and meet the expectations that we have here for ASU baseball."
Since Smith's arrival at ASU, he's seen 30 of his former players selected in the MLB Draft, including Spencer Torkelson, the No. 1 pick of the 2020 MLB Draft.
In February, the Arizona Board of Regents approved the terms of a contract extension for Smith through the 2023 season, but the University will now search for what will be its sixth head coach in program history.
Reach the reporter at ltochter@asu.edu and follow @Leo_Toch on Twitter.
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