Chris Pollard, Duke Blue Devils

Chris Pollard became the Duke Blue Devils’ 25th head baseball coach in June of 2012, taking over the reins of the program after successful stints at Pfeiffer University and Appalachian State University.

Pollard led Duke to an at-large bid to the 2016 NCAA Tournament, ending the program’s drought of 55 years without making the postseason event. After beginning the season 10-13 (1-7 ACC), the Blue Devils went 23-9 over their final 32 regular season games, including a 13-8 ACC record. During that span, Duke went 9-7 against Top 20 RPI teams, collected series victories over Georgia Tech, Clemson, Virginia Tech, Florida State and Pitt, and posted a perfect 10-0 mark in non-conference play.

With 30 wins this past season, Duke reached the 30-win mark for the fourth straight year, marking the program’s first stretch of four-straight 30-win seasons since the Blue Devils compiled a run of seven consecutive 30-win seasons from 1992-98.

Pollard registered his 500th career win May 1, 2016 at NC State. In addition, he became the fastest Duke head coach to reach 100 wins with the Blue Devils, recording his 100th victory at Duke March 15, 2016 against UMES. He is the only Blue Devil head coach to guide the team to three 30-win seasons in his first four campaigns.

During Pollard’s tenure, 13 Blue Devils have been selected in the Major League Baseball Draft, including five in 2015 in junior RHP Michael Matuella (3rd Round | No. 78 Overall | Texas Rangers), senior RHP Sarkis Ohanian (9th Round | No. 265 Overall | Cincinnati Reds), junior RHP Kenny Koplove (17th Round | No. 504 Overall | Philadelphia Phillies), senior RHP Andrew Istler (23rd Round | No. 702 | Los Angeles Dodgers) and redshirt sophomore James Marvel (36th Round | No. 1,087 Overall | Pittsburgh Pirates). Duke’s five current players selected was the team’s highest total since seven Blue Devils were taken in the 2009 MLB Draft, while Matuella and Ohanian became the first Duke teammates picked in the first 10 rounds of the draft since 2002.

In just his second season in Durham, Pollard led the 2014 Blue Devils to the ACC Tournament for the first time since 2009 as Duke finished fourth overall in the league standings. Duke’s 16 ACC wins in 2014 tied the program record while the Blue Devils finished in the top four in the conference standings for the first time since 1994. The Blue Devils cemented their status as one of the top teams in the North Carolina,