JACKSON, Miss. (AP) - In a sometimes misty farewell speech, Mississippi State baseball coach Ron Polk told his players Thursday that this season will be his last.

The Southeastern Conference's winningest coach said he's ready to go after 35 years, 29 of which he spent making Mississippi State a national contender.

"It was just real emotional," pitcher Chad Crosswhite said. "The first thing he said was, 'Getting old's tough.' He started getting a little choked up. The thing with him is it's just hard to put into words what he's done for me and what he's done for this school and this team. We all, especially me, I love him like a father."

Athletic director Larry Templeton announced Polk's resignation in a news release Thursday. The 64-year-old Polk declined comment through a spokesman until after Friday's game against Georgia in Starkville. Templeton also declined an interview request from The Associated Press until after Polk speaks.

Templeton said the timing of the announcement will allow the school "to properly put together a process for the selection of our next head baseball coach." That search will be led by Mississippi State's new athletic director, Greg Byrne.

Polk ranks among the nation's top 10 in career victories with 1,360 and has the fifth-most wins among active coaches. Polk guided the Bulldogs to the College World Series last season and has taken 24 of 34 teams to NCAA regional play, including five straight.

Though Polk informed Templeton of his decision before the season started, the resignation caught players and colleagues by surprise. Mississippi coach Mike Bianco heard about it as his team traveled to Alabama by bus for a weekend series.

"I was shocked and I think, at least in my opinion, when you look at coach Polk, you always thought he would coach forever," Bianco said. "He was one of those guys you thought would coach until he's 80 years old. He's certainly one of the legends of our game."

Polk has never had a losing season in two stints at Mississippi State, and stays at Georgia and Georgia Southern.

But fan discontent grew last season before Polk helped the Bulldogs put together a postseason run to his eighth College World Series.

The team was swept out of the Series, however, and the Bulldogs are 10-13 this season and 1-5 in the SEC coming off a three-game sweep by South Carolina.

Perhaps more disheartening than losses on the field was the one that came to the NCAA last fall. Polk waged a very public battle with the NCAA over rules changes he said would hurt the game.

Polk sent out 1,421 letters in an effort to stymie NCAA proposals to limit the number of players on each team and mandate a minimum amount of scholarship money should get. At 18 pages long, the letter beseeches the reader to help fight the NCAA's assault on the game and is peppered with bits of self-effacing humor.

The coach used a typewriter to personally address each letter.

In the end, the NCAA instituted the new rules, though Polk was successful in getting a review.

"I think the biggest thing was when he fought his butt off for a bunch of athletes to get that rule changed," senior pitcher Justin Pigott said. "He didn't get it and I think it just took a lot out of him.

"I think it ripped him to shreds inside because he had to cut guys who had a great opportunity to play here."

AP-ES-03-27-08 2154EDT