Virginia Baseball Coaching Search: Spotlight on Duke's Chris Pollard

The Super Regionals in the NCAA Baseball Tournament are set to begin this weekend and while Virginia Baseball is accustomed to playing through this weekend, they have more pressing matters at hand. Long-time head coach Brian O'Connor left for Mississippi State and one of the best jobs in college baseball became open. In a statement from Virginia AD Carla Williams, she said that "Our national search began moments after he informed me of his decision on Sunday evening and we are making significant progress. With the tremendous support from our donors and our fans over the last two decades, we look forward to hiring a head coach that will build upon the excellence that already exists and continue competing for championships."

Being one of the premier jobs in the sport, Virginia should be able to land a top-tier coach, perhaps one that is coaching this weekend.

Let's take a close look at long-time Duke head coach Chris Pollard.

Note: This is just speculation, not reporting of any candidate's interest in Virginia or Virginia's interest in them

Strengths

Pollard has been a head coach in college baseball since 2000 and at every stop, he has shown the ability to build a program up. When he became the head coach at Pfeiffer, he increased his win total in each season he was the head coach, going from 20 to 21 to 26 to 33 to 41 before leaving to become the head coach at App State in 2005. His first season saw him win only 10 games, but by his last season in 2012, he had won 41 games and tied for 1st in the Sun Belt. He left to become the head coach at Duke in 2013.

Duke had not made the NCAA Tournament since 1961 until Pollard showed up. By 2016, the Blue Devils made the tournament and while they were eliminated early with an 0-2 record, it was impressive that he got them there. In 2018 and 2019, Pollard got Duke to a super regional, he made the tournament in 2021, a super regional in 2023, a regional appearance last season, and this weekend, they are hosting Murray State in a super regional, where they are heavy favorites to head to the College World Series for the first time since 1961.

Per his Duke bio, Pollard has coached 46 Major League Baseball Draft picks, 24 All-ACC selections, nine Freshmen All-Americans, and seven All-Americans. In addition, he has led the program to three Super Regionals (2018, 2019, 2023) and two ACC Baseball Tournament Championship titles (2021, 2024), each the first in program history. Duke reached three consecutive postseasons (2018, 2019, 2021) for the first time in program history and his first postseason appearance in 2016 broke a 55-year drought. In 2021, Pollard became the first Duke coach to reach 100 career ACC wins, becoming one of six active head coaches to achieve that mark at the time.

Entering the 2025 season, Pollard sits with 379 career wins at Duke, three shy of becoming the winningest head coach in program history. In 2023 and 2024, the Blue Devils produced record-breaking performances on the field, shattering multiple program bests including home runs (2023 & 2024), strikeouts, fielding percentage, and runs (2023 & 2024).

Weaknesses

The only knock in Pollard's resume is that he has not been at a program where there are national championship expectations. Not only that, but he has never advanced to the College World Series as a head coach, though that could change this weekend. He would be expected to win big at Virginia and that was not the case when he arrived at Duke. Could he handle that type of pressure?

Overview

Pollard is a winner and developer of talent and would be a smart hire for Virginia, if he was interested in the job, which there is no indication that he is. This would be a very good hire for Virginia and odds are that he could win quickly in Charlottesville.