Chris Pollard

Chris Pollard
Pollard in 2014
Current position
TitleHead coach
TeamDuke
ConferenceACC
Record379–274
Biographical details
BornDurham, North Carolina
Alma materDavidson '96
Playing career
1993–1996Davidson
1996Sioux Falls Canaries
1996Salinas Peppers
Position(s)P
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1998Durham Braves
1999Davidson (asst.)
2000–2004Pfeiffer
2005–2012Appalachian State
2013–presentDuke
Administrative career (AD unless noted)
2003–2004Pfeiffer
Head coaching record
Overall764–580–2
TournamentsNCAA: 16–15
ACC: 12–4
SoCon: 10–14
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
2x Conference Carolinas: 2003, 2004
SoCon: 2012
2x ACC: 2021, 2024
Awards
Conference Carolinas Coach of the Year: 2004 SoCon Coach of the Year: 2012

Chris Pollard is an American baseball coach and former pitcher, who is the current head baseball coach of the Duke Blue Devils.[1][2] He played college baseball at Davidson for head coach Dick Cooke from 1993 to 1996 before playing professionally in 1996. He then served as the head coach of the Pfeiffer Falcons (2000–2004) and Appalachian State Mountaineers.

Playing career

Pollard is from Amherst County, Virginia, and[3] attended high school at Virginia Episcopal School and college at Davidson College and played for the Wildcats baseball team for four years. He pitched in the competitive Southern Conference, and ranks third all-time at Davidson in wins. He also ranks highly in the Davidson record books for strikeouts, appearances, starts, innings pitched, complete games and shutouts. As a sophomore, he earned wins over #1 ranked Georgia Tech and #25 ranked Western Carolina. He also earned the win in both games of a double header against Georgia Southern as a junior. After graduating in 1996, Pollard played in the independent Western League and Northern League before beginning his coaching career.[1][2]

Coaching career

Pollard began his coaching career as an assistant at Davidson. After one season, he became head coach at Division II member Pfeiffer, which he rebuilt over five seasons. In his final season, the Falcons set a school record for wins with a record of 41–14 and their second consecutive Carolinas-Virginia Athletic Conference championship. Pollard was named conference Coach of the Year, and was also rewarded with the head coaching position at Appalachian State, a Southern Conference rival of his alma mater Davidson. Pollard spent eight seasons with the Mountaineers, claiming the school's first conference championship since 1987 in his final 2012 campaign. ASU's at-large trip to the 2012 NCAA tournament ended just one win shy of a Super Regional. Pollard was named head coach at Duke shortly after the end of the tournament run.[4][5][6][7]

Head coaching record

Below are tables of Pollard's yearly records as an NCAA and collegiate summer baseball head coach.[4][8][9]

NCAA

Statistics overview
Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
Pfeiffer University Falcons (Conference Carolinas) (2000–2004)
2000 Pfeiffer University 20–28 10–15 8th
2001 Pfeiffer University 21–26 11–12 6th
2002 Pfeiffer University 26–23–1 11–14 8th
2003 Pfeiffer University 33–17 16–10 3rd
2004 Pfeiffer University 41–14 18–6 1st
Pfeiffer University: 141–108–1 66–57
Appalachian State Mountaineers (Southern Conference) (2005–2012)
2005 Appalachian State 10–42 5–24 11th
2006 Appalachian State 24–31 9–18 8th
2007 Appalachian State 33–26 14–13 T–4th
2008 Appalachian State 32–27 14–13 T–6th
2009 Appalachian State 33–21 15–13 6th
2010 Appalachian State 38–18–1 14–14–1 7th
2011 Appalachian State 33–27 15–15 6th
2012 Appalachian State 41–18 21–9 T–1st NCAA Regional
Appalachian State: 244–210–1 107–119
Duke Blue Devils (Atlantic Coast Conference) (2013–present)
2013 Duke 26–29 9–21 6th (Coastal)
2014 Duke 33–25 16–14 3rd (Coastal)
2015 Duke 31–22 10–19 6th (Coastal)
2016 Duke 33–24 14–15 3rd (Coastal) NCAA Regional
2017 Duke 30–28 12–19 4th (Coastal)
2018 Duke 45–18 18–11 2nd (Coastal) NCAA Super Regional
2019 Duke 35–27 15-15 4th (Coastal) NCAA Super Regional
2020 Duke 12–4 2–1 (Coastal) Season canceled due to COVID-19
2021 Duke 33–22 16–17 5th (Coastal) NCAA Regional
2022 Duke 22–32 10–20 7th (Coastal)
2023 Duke 39–23 16–13 3rd (Coastal) NCAA Super Regional
2024 Duke 40–20 16–14 3rd (Coastal) NCAA Regional
Duke: 379–274 154–178
Total: 764–592–2

      National champion         Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

Collegiate summer baseball

Coastal Plain League

Season Team Record Standing playoffs
1998 Durham 24–23 4th
Total 24–23

[10]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "Duke Names Chris Pollard Head Baseball Coach". goduke.com. June 15, 2012. Retrieved December 18, 2012.
  2. ^ a b "Chris Pollard". goasu.com. Archived from the original on January 23, 2010. Retrieved December 18, 2012.
  3. ^ Doug Doughty (June 4, 2012). "UVa baseball falls in regional". Roanoke Times. Archived from the original on February 1, 2013. Retrieved December 18, 2012.
  4. ^ a b Steve Behr (June 16, 2012). "Duke hits home run with Pollard". Watauga Democrat. Archived from the original on May 14, 2013. Retrieved October 31, 2018.
  5. ^ Jack Daly (June 18, 2012). "Duke's new baseball coach embraces the challenge". News and Observer. Raleigh, North Carolina. Archived from the original on June 21, 2012. Retrieved October 31, 2018.
  6. ^ Andrew Beaton (June 14, 2012). "Pollard hired as next baseball coach". dukechronicle.com. Retrieved December 18, 2012.
  7. ^ "Duke hires Appalachian's Pollard as baseball coach". Winston-Salem Journal. June 14, 2012. Retrieved December 18, 2012.
  8. ^ "2012 Southern Conference Baseball Media Guide". Southern Conference. Archived from the original on May 25, 2014. Retrieved January 16, 2013.
  9. ^ "2013 Atlantic Coast Conference Baseball Standings". D1Baseball.com. Jeremy Mills. Archived from the original on May 26, 2013. Retrieved May 19, 2013.
  10. ^ "1998 Statistics". CoastalPlain.com. Archived from the original on December 25, 2012. Retrieved January 22, 2013.