Pollard Eager to Build on Foundation of Success

By Jeff White (jwhite@virginia.edu)
VirginiaSports.com

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — Chris Pollard’s message resonated with his audience at Disharoon Park on Wednesday afternoon, and that wasn’t surprising. Pollard’s values and principles differ little from those of Brian O’Connor, his predecessor as head baseball coach at the University of Virginia.

Among those who attended Pollard’s introductory press conference was Luke Hanson, a rising senior who started at third base for UVA this season.

“I think the way that he operates and just kind of preaches toughness and building a culture and the attention to detail, I think it’s going to be an easy transition, especially for returners, just because that’s what we’re all about here,” Hanson said. “I think Virginia comes down to the nitty-gritty details, and that’s why it’s been a successful program and will continue to be with Coach Pollard.”

Pollard, whom UVA hired on June 10, is a Lynchburg native who grew up in nearby Amherst County and graduated from Virginia Episcopal School. He came to Virginia from another ACC school, Duke, where in 13 seasons he won 420 games, the most of any coach in the history of that program.

“Coach Pollard is the perfect person to lead our baseball program into this new era,” Virginia athletics director Carla Williams said Wednesday. “His determination, his sense of gratitude, his pursuit of excellence, and his blue-collar work ethic, which he first learned from his dad and grandfather in Amherst County, means that the future is very, very bright for Virginia baseball.”

Before his opening remarks, Pollard surveyed the scene in the stadium’s crowded Jim Rutrough Club Lounge. Among those seated front of him were his wife, Stephanie, and their two sons, Brady and Thomas; his parents, Larry and Peggy Pollard; UVA president Jim Ryan; UVA rector Robert Hardie; athletic department staffers; donors; former Duke players; current and former UVA players; and the assistants who followed him from Durham, N.C., to Charlottesville.

“This is awesome,” Pollard said, “and I am really humbled. I believe wholeheartedly in the power of vulnerability, and I believe in high-functioning team dynamics. I think vulnerability is a super power. So I’ll be real with you. I’ve had a huge range of emotions over the last eight days, not to mention my fair share of butterflies. And I tell our guys, when you get those butterflies, that just means that your body is getting ready to do something special. And so with that said, the overwhelming feeling that I have had more than any is gratitude.”

He’s grateful for Williams and Ryan and the opportunity they’ve given him “to be a part of this incredible university,” Pollard said.

He’s grateful for the supporters who have helped UVA build one of the nation’s top baseball teams, with “one of the very best facilities at all of college baseball,” Pollard said, and the “investment in scholarship resources.”

He’s grateful for his staff and “all the [UVA] players, both past and present, who have not only been welcoming, but have also helped me really shorten my learning curve,” Pollard said.

He’s grateful for time at Duke, Pollard said, and there “will always be a piece of my heart and soul that I leave behind in Durham.”

Finally, he expressed gratitude for his predecessor at UVA. In 22 seasons under O’Connor, the Wahoos went 917-388-2 and advanced to the College World Series seven times. They won the NCAA title in 2015.

Throughout his career at Duke, Pollard said, he studied O’Connor’s work at UVA and marveled at his peer’s attention to detail.

O’Connor “was kind enough to be a resource to me,” Pollard said, “and I would reach out to him when I had questions about the league, or about how things should work at this level, and somewhere along that way, Brian became a friend. And I can tell you wholeheartedly, we want to honor his legacy, and I am so excited about the awesome challenge that comes along with trying to fill those big shoes.”

Williams said that Pollard “hit the ground sprinting” after being hired at UVA, and the new coaching staff has had much success assembling a team for next season.

“The roster-building process has been frenetic,” Pollard said. “It’s been about 18 hours a day but it’s also been really productive. We’ve made great strides, and I thought [Tuesday] was maybe one of the best days we’ve had in these first eight days.”

Several of his players from Duke will be joining him at Virginia. Once they entered the transfer portal, Pollard said, he was able to engage them in “conversations and to sell them on what the opportunity at the University of Virginia is all about.”

The Blue Devils came to Charlottesville in March and swept a three-game series with the Cavaliers, so his players were already familiar with the facilities at Disharoon Park, Pollard said. “And so knowing that you have that unique elite combination of academics and athletics and this facility to train in to become the best version of yourself, it didn’t take a lot more than a twist [of the arm].”

O’Connor left UVA early this month to become head coach at Mississippi State, taking most of his staff with him. His former players include Tyler Wilson, a pitcher on the first two Cavalier teams (2009 and 2011) to reach the College World Series in Omaha, Neb.

Wilson, who attended the press conference Wednesday, said he’s excited about the challenge O’Connor and his staffers from UVA are taking on in Starkville, Miss.

“I love those guys,” Wilson said. “They’ve impacted my life, my family’s life, this program, in ways that are beyond measure. But I’m excited for Coach Pollard. I’ve followed UVA baseball for the last 20 years, and so being in touch with the league and knowing what he’s accomplished, taking Duke from what it was to what it has become in the last four years, I’m excited.

“He says all the right things. He talked about weaponizing humility and fighting against entitlement in an era like this. That’s what we knew UVA baseball to be pre-2010, and still even thereafter. I think he’s a great fit. I really respect the humility he showed.”

As a boy in Amherst County, Pollard said, he rooted for the UVA men’s basketball teams coached by Terry Holland and led on the court by Ralph Sampson. After graduating from VES, Pollard attended Davidson College, where he played baseball in an athletic department headed by a familiar figure.

“Terry Holland was the AD, and it was incredible,” Pollard said. “I still remember my dad being there on my official visit and getting a chance to interact with Coach Holland. So it’s a full-circle moment for me and certainly my parents, for sure.”

His father, Larry, is “the hardest-working person I know,” Pollard said. “I can promise you that I will bring that work ethic that I learned from watching him [to] the University of Virginia. Our teams will value work ethic. We call it the grind.

“Additionally, we will adopt a process-driven approach. Great process leads to great results. We will value servant leadership. We’ll appreciate the importance of being a part of something that’s bigger than ourselves. We’ll be accountable for the energy that we show up with on a day-in-day-out basis. We want to work hard to be that same person day in and day out. We will weaponize gratitude in the fight against entitlement and self-pity. We will embrace the growth mindset. We’ll lean into struggle and adversity, recognizing that’s how real toughness and real resilience are created. And in building that culture, we’ll compete for ACC championships, and when you compete for ACC championships, you put the program in a position to host regionals and super regionals and provide the most direct path to Omaha. We are so fired up—our family, our staff, our players.”

Pollard has yet to hire a director of operations, but five of his staffers from Duke are with him at UVA: pitching coach Brady Kirkpatrick, recruiting coordinator/infielders coach Derek Simmons, recruiting coordinator/hitting coach Eric Tyler, director of player development John Natoli and director of recruiting Brian Sakowski.

“These guys are really, really good and nimble,” Pollard said, “and so they’ve been able to really hit the ground running with such a shorter learning curve. And I’ve said in my head, and I’ve said out loud over the last few days, I don’t know how you make this kind of transition and hire a staff too. I can’t imagine trying to reconstruct a roster while hiring a staff. The fact that these guys are in place and they’re so good at what they do, and they can be out front building relationships, has made it so much more seamless. Not easy, but it’s given us a leg up.”

To receive Jeff White’s articles by email, click the appropriate box in this link to subscribe.