Duke Baseball Coach Pollard Leaves for ACC Foe Virginia

Duke's Chris Pollard will lead UVA baseball after 13 standout years with the Blue Devils. His record-setting 420 wins made him the clear pick.

"It's a new era. Welcome to Charlottesville," said Virginia Baseball in their announcement.

Taking over from Brian O'Connor's 22-year stint, Pollard brings an impressive track record. His Blue Devils made seven NCAA tournaments and pushed through to four Super Regionals. Under his watch, 46 players caught the eye of MLB scouts and made it to the draft.

"Just a no-brainer hire for Virginia, the perfect candidate for this job. Chris Pollard is an incredible coach, and I think UVa is his dream job, given his Central Virginia roots and everything that job has to offer," said Aaron Fitt.

The switch came right after Murray State knocked Duke out of the Super Regional. Derek Simmons, Brady Kirkpatrick, and Eric Tyler, will join him in Charlottesville.

Before Pollard stepped in, Duke hadn't seen NCAA Tournament action since 1961. He changed that dry spell, bringing home two ACC Tournament wins.

"What Pollard did, creating a consistently good program out of literally nothing, was truly remarkable," said Adam Gold.

His success story started at Pfeiffer University and Appalachian State. Through 26 seasons, he's won 806 games against 614 losses. Now at UVA, he takes charge of a powerhouse that's made seven College World Series trips since 2009.

Athletic director Carla Williams started the hunt after O'Connor left. "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," said Williams.

Right now, Pollard must tackle the transfer portal and build his team. Several players jumped ship when O'Connor picked Mississippi State.