LEXINGTON, Ky. – UK baseball coach Gary Henderson has resigned after missing the NCAA tournament for the second consecutive season.

“I am deeply appreciative of the contributions Gary Henderson made during his time here,” UK athletic director Mitch Barnhart said in a news release. “He has poured his heart and soul into Kentucky baseball, giving us many of the best seasons and most thrilling moments in our history while competing in the most difficult league in America. He has conducted himself and the program with honor and integrity. Already solid in the classroom, he challenged the team to even greater success academically and the players responded with several consecutive semesters with a team grade-point average over 3.0. Again, I am thankful for everything he has done at UK and wish the best for Gary and his family.”

Henderson compiled a 258-199 record in eight seasons as UK’s head coach after being promoted from associated head coach and pitching coach in 2009.

In a letter to fans attached to the news release announcing his resignation, Henderson said the decision was 100 percent his “in part because the results don’t meet my expectations.”

“Coaching in the SEC is not a job, it’s a lifestyle,” Henderson wrote. “All aspects of the job, from recruiting to player development, are all-consuming and require a 24/7/365 commitment. After 30 years in coaching, I have decided it is time for me to step away for the time being.”

Henderson was the fastest coach to reach 200 wins in program history but failed to build on the 2006 SEC championship won while John Cohen was head coach and he was an assistant.

His 2012 team set a school record with 25 wins, earning Henderson SEC Coach of the Year honors. He also reached the postseason in 2014 with a team built around consensus national Player of the Year A.J. Reed

Henderson was awarded a new four-year contract after the 2014 season, which would have paid him $475,000 per year through June 2018, but there was a growing sentiment among some fans the program had stagnated while arch rival Louisville had developed into a national powerhouse.

The task for Henderson was complicated by an aging Cliff Hagan Stadium. UK’s administration has made no secret of the need to build a new baseball stadium to compete with other SEC programs, but the project has not yet left the planning stage. In a March interview with The Courier-Journal, Barnhart said the goal for the opening of a new stadium remains the 2018 season.

The facility problem combined with UK’s status as the northernmost SEC program adds some question about what the ceiling of the Wildcat baseball program can be.

“It’s hard to get over that next hump in that league,” Aaron Fitt, a national college baseball writer and editor for D1Baseball.com, said in a recent interview with The Courier-Journal. “You look at Missouri was a great program in the Big 12, they were a consistent regional team. They come to the SEC and they’ve not been able to get into a regional.

“That’s kind of a comparable program to Kentucky — except they’ve had even more postseason success than Kentucky in the past — but once they move to the SEC all the sudden it’s harder and they can’t get in. They’re similar weather-wise, kind of a similar profile, but Kentucky is better.”

UK is the second SEC job to open since the end of the 2016 regular season. Former Alabama head coach Mitch Gaspard resigned Monday.

Both Alabama and Kentucky missed the NCAA tournament field with .500 SEC records this season, but the Crimson Tide also have a new stadium as a selling point in its search for a new coach. The recent struggles of Tennessee and Georgia – both schools have finished behind Kentucky in the SEC East in each of the last five seasons – after marquee head coaching hires adds another question mark about the Kentucky’s competition.

The contracts of both of UK’s full-time assistants – hitting coach Rick Eckstein and recruiting coordinator Toby Bicknell – are set to expire on June 30. Eckstein is a former MLB hitting coach with the Washington Nationals.

This story will be updated.

Email Jon Hale at jahale@courier-journal.com. Follow him on Twitter @JonHale_CJ.