Director of Athletics Carla Williams announced Tuesday that Virginia baseball has hired Duke Coach Chris Pollard as its new head coach. Pollard is also bringing his full coaching staff with him, according to Monty Taylor of College Baseball Central.
Pollard, a native of Amherst County, Va., has coached in the collegiate ranks for 26 years — spending time with Davidson, Pfeiffer, Appalachian State and Duke. Now, Pollard returns home to Virginia.
Virginia’s new leader is the winningest coach in Duke history with 420 wins. He also guided the Blue Devils to seven NCAA Tournament appearances in his 11 full seasons. Before Pollard’s tenure, Duke reached the postseason just five times from 1947-2012.
During Pollard’s tenure from 2013 to 2025, the Blue Devils had 46 MLB Draft selections, 28 All-ACC selections, nine Freshman All-Americans and seven All-Americans.
This year, Duke bowed out in the final game of the Durham Super Regional to Murray State Monday — capping off a 41-21 season.
Pollard also has experience winning in the ACC, as he has claimed two ACC Tournament titles — the same as former Coach Brian O’Connor, who coached in the conference for 13 more seasons than Pollard. In their last 10 matchups against Virginia, Pollard’s Blue Devils went 7-3.
According to Erich Bacher, associate athletic director for athletic communications, the date and time of Pollard’s introductory press conference have yet to be determined.
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