The Rob Cooper era of Penn State baseball has come to a close.

Penn State baseball head coach Rob Cooper will step down from the program at the completion of the 2023 season, the team announced on Friday. Cooper’s departure comes after 10 years at the helm of the Nittany Lions.

Cooper’s resignation is effective following the Nittany Lions’ series against No. 20 Maryland, which will serve as the team’s final games of the season after they missed the Big Ten Tournament cut.

“I am beyond grateful for my time as the head baseball coach at Penn State,” Cooper said in a release. “This is a special place, because of the special people who make it up. My family and I love Penn State. While I am disappointed I wasn’t able to get the baseball program the success it deserves, I am excited about the vision Dr. Kraft has for Penn State Athletics, the student-athletes and the baseball program. Penn State Baseball is in good hands. The next coach will love Penn State, the people and the community as much as my family has. I wish our players nothing but success and happiness. We Are!!!”

During Cooper’s 10 years with the program, the Nittany Lions consistently struggled to reach the postseason. He led Penn State to one Big Ten Tournament in 2022 and posted a lone win over Iowa.

Despite Cooper’s aspirations of consistently sending the program to the Big Ten Tournament when he took over the program, he also struggled in conference play and never won more than 50% of Big Ten games.

“We appreciate Rob Cooper for all he has done for the Penn State community these last 10 seasons,” Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics Pat Kraft said. “I have a tremendous amount of respect for Rob for not only the commitment he made to our baseball program but also the way he represented Penn State University with class.

Cooper was hired prior to the 2014 season as the program’s 14th head coach. Since then, he has posted a total record of 197-269 with two games left in charge of the program. He has coached 12 MLB draftees in the past five seasons, including Matt Wood, who was selected by the Milwaukee Brewers in 2022 as the highest-drafted player in school history.

Penn State announced that it will begin a national search for Cooper’s replacement immediately.