It didn’t take long for the Duke baseball team to name their new head coach after Sean McNally resigned at the end of May. On Friday, they named Chris Pollard the new head coach.

Pollard was previously the head coach at Appalachian State and guided them to the NCAA Regionals in Charlottesville (where they lost two heartbreakers to Oklahoma on the final day). In 2012, he was named the Southern Conference’s Coach of the Year. Appalachian State went 41-18 (a school record) and won the Southern Conference championship with a 21-9 record. They were also nationally ranked and beat nationally ranked opponents (four wins).

Pollard guided Appalachian State to six straight 30-plus win seasons. Prior to his tenure there (which began in 2004), they had back-to-back ten win seasons.

Here is what Pollard had to say at the announcement:

“I couldn’t be more thrilled to be joining Duke University as its new head baseball coach,” said Pollard. “This is a tremendous opportunity for me professionally, but just as importantly, it’s a tremendous opportunity for my family. We are all four – myself, my wife and my two sons – ecstatic to be joining the Duke family.”

Sure bringing Appalachian State back to glory is one thing, but bringing Duke back to glory in a tough conference like the ACC is another. Only time will tell but I wish him luck.