Head baseball coach Aaron Carroll resigned his position last week, citing personal reasons. Carroll informed Athletics Director Mike Hennigan of his decision to step down after three seasons at the Golden Eagle helm.

The university will begin a search immediately for a new baseball coach.

"We're going to look for the best baseball coach we can get within our budget and make sure our new coach understands the expectations we have at the university," Hennigan says. "We hope to do it as quickly as possible through the appropriate search procedures."

Carroll steps away from the TTU baseball program after a series of what Carroll and athletic administrators are calling "misjudgments" in his handling of the program.

"Aaron feels it's best for both his personal interests and the university to look for other opportunities," says Hennigan. "He's a hard worker, and we commend him for what he and his teams have accomplished. The academic performance of his team has improved dramatically. There are several things Aaron has done with our baseball program that should make it an attractive position for a new coach. We think Aaron made the appropriate decision for himself and for our baseball program, and we respect him for doing the right thing."

Carroll took over the Golden Eagle baseball program as an interim head coach in 2001 following the resignation of Mike Maack and compiled an 89-82 overall record in three years, including a 34-26 record in the Ohio Valley Conference.

His team captured the 2001 OVC Tournament title and advanced to the NCAA tournament, where it stunned 16th ranked Wake Forest before being eliminated. His team also reached the OVC Tournament title game in 2002, and last year was playing for the OVC regular season championship on the last day of the season before finishing with a loss and slipping to third place.

He has had 16 players named all-conference and several more named to the OVC Commissioner's Honor Roll and the TTU Athletic Director's Honor Roll.

"I feel like I've done a lot of positive things to better the program at Tennessee Tech," Carroll says. "I've done a lot of positive things to make our players become better players, better students and better people."