Chris Pollard Named Head Baseball Coach at the University of Virginia

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Director of Athletics Carla Williams announced Tuesday (June 10) the hiring of Chris Pollard as the University of Virginia’s Head Baseball Coach. Pollard becomes the 16th coach in program history.

Pollard, who grew up in Amherst County, arrives in Charlottesville after spending the last 13 seasons at Duke, leading the Blue Devils to a 420-296 record, seven NCAA tournament berths, four Super Regional appearances and two ACC Baseball Tournament championships. His 420 wins are the most by a head coach in Duke baseball history.

During his time at Duke, Pollard coached 46 Major League Baseball Draft picks, 28 All-ACC selections, nine Freshman All-Americans and seven All-Americans.

Virginia will be Pollard’s fourth stop as a collegiate head coach. Over his 26 seasons as a skipper, Pollard has compiled a career record of 806-614-3, including stops at Pfeiffer (2000-04), Appalachian State (2005-12) and Duke (2013-25). As he did at Duke in 2025, Pollard led Appalachian State to the NCAA Tournament during his final season with the Mountaineers in 2012.

No stranger to postseason baseball in Charlottesville, Pollard coached Duke to the 2023 Charlottesville Super Regional and Appalachian State to the 2012 Charlottesville Regional.

In his final two seasons in Durham, Pollard led the Blue Devils to back-to-back 40-win campaigns for the first time in program history, culminating in Duke hosting its first Super Regional in 2025.

The 2024 season saw the Blue Devils break the home run record for the second consecutive season, recording a program-best 115. Duke finished the 2024 campaign with a 40-20 record, the second time in program history to record 40-plus wins in a season (both under Pollard). The Blue Devils secured their second ACC Tournament title by sweeping the week in Charlotte.

Duke secured the program’s third Super Regional appearance in 2023, finishing with a 39-24 record. The Blue Devils were selected to the Conway Regional, advancing to the championship game against host Coastal Carolina, where Duke blasted its way to a 12-3 final in the regional championship.

Pollard led Duke to another historic season in 2021, capturing the program’s first ACC Baseball Tournament championship title in program history and its first conference title since 1961.

Duke’s 35 wins in 2019 marked Pollard’s sixth consecutive season with over 30 victories, making the Blue Devil skipper the first head coach to lead Duke to six 30-win seasons in his first seven campaigns. The 2019 season culminated in the program’s second Super Regional appearance, where Duke fell to eventual national champion Vanderbilt.

Under Pollard’s guidance, Duke assembled a historic 2018 campaign. Ranked in the preseason for the first time in program history, the 2018 Blue Devils lived up to the early-season hype, achieving the first 40-win season in program history while also earning a program-record 18 ACC wins and advancing to the first NCAA Super Regional in school history.

Pollard and the Blue Devils first burst onto the national scene in 2016 as Duke ended the season with a record of 33-24, which was good enough to earn an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1961.

Before taking the job at Duke, Pollard spent eight seasons transforming Appalachian State from a bottom-dweller to a perennial mid-major power.

The Pollard era in Boone was highlighted by the 2012 Mountaineers winning their first conference championship since 1987 and advancing to NCAA postseason play for the first time since 1986. Appalachian State also claimed four wins over nationally-ranked opponents and spent six weeks in the national rankings. Before the record-breaking 2012 campaign, the Mountaineers boasted just one win over a nationally ranked team since 1982 and one appearance in a major college baseball poll.

Pollard got his first head coaching gig at DII Pfeiffer University. In his final year at Pfeiffer, Pollard coached the Falcons to the winningest season in school history, a 41-14 campaign that culminated with Pfeiffer’s second straight Carolinas-Virginia Athletics Conference regular-season championship and a berth in the 2004 NCAA Division II South Atlantic Regional.

His prowess in program building can be traced back to Pfeiffer, as the Falcons suffered three losing seasons in the four years preceding his arrival. The Falcons improved their record in each of the five years with Pollard at the helm.

Pollard broke into the college coaching ranks in 1997 as the pitching coach and recruiting coordinator at his alma mater, Davidson College.

While on staff at Davidson, Pollard gained coaching experience in the NCAA-certified Coastal Plain Summer League as the head coach of the Durham Braves in 1998 and pitching coach with the Rocky Mount Rock Fish in 1997.

As a player at Davidson from 1993-96, Pollard became just the third pitcher in program history to win 20 games for a career. He ranks among the top 10 in Davidson history with 20 wins (4th), 309 innings pitched (6th), 18 complete games (6th) and two shutouts (3rd).

Pollard attended high school at Virginia Episcopal School in Lynchburg.

Pollard and his wife, Stephanie, have two sons, Thomas and Brady.

THE CHRIS POLLARD FILE

2013-25 – Duke – Head Coach (420-296)

2005-12 – Appalachian State – Head Coach (244-210-1)

2000-04 – Pfeiffer – Head Coach (141-108-1)

1996-99 – Davidson – Assistant Coach

 Press Conference Information

The date and time of Coach Pollard’s introductory press conference is to be determined.