CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) — Chris Pollard has been hired as Virginia’s baseball coach after spending the past 13 seasons at Atlantic Coast Conference rival Duke.
Virginia athletic director Carla Williams on Tuesday announced the successor to Brian O’Connor, who left June 1 to take the job at Mississippi State.
Pollard was 420-296 and led the Blue Devils to seven NCAA regionals, four super regionals and two ACC Tournament championships. Duke hosted a super regional this season, losing in three games to Murray State.
Pollard is 806-614-3 in 26 seasons as a head coach. He also has coached 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.
The Blue Devils are coming off back-to-back 40-win seasons for the first time in program history.
Pollard takes over a Virginia program that went to 18 NCAA regionals, nine super regionals and seven College World Series in 22 seasons under O’Connor. The 2015 team won the national championship. Virginia went 32-18 this season and missed the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2019.