UVA baseball coach Brian O’Connor heads to Mississippi State
For the first time in 22 years, the Virginia baseball program has new leadership.
Just over a week after the departure of longtime coach Brian O’Connor, who led the Cavaliers to seven College World Series appearances and the 2015 national championship, Virginia hired former Duke coach Chris Pollard, who guided the Blue Devils to a school-record 420 wins in 13 seasons.
O’Connor announced June 1 that he was leaving for Mississippi State, a move that registered as at least somewhat of a surprise, considering that less than a year earlier he signed a contract extension at Virginia running through 2031. O’Connor also refuted reports in early May linking him to the Mississippi State job, telling The Daily Progress that UVA “has made and will continue to make the commitment for us to continue to compete at the highest level of college baseball.”
A few weeks later, O’Connor said the opportunity to coach at Mississippi State, which boasts some of the best facilities and fan support in college baseball, was too good to pass up.
“Mississippi State represents everything I love about college baseball—tradition, passion and a relentless pursuit of excellence, ”O’Connor said in a statement upon accepting the job.
The Bulldogs won the national championship in 2021 and have appeared in the College World Series 12 times. At 15,000 seats, Mississippi State’s stadium is far larger than UVA’s Disharoon Park, which has a listed capacity of 5,919. The Bulldogs averaged 11,000 fans per game in 2025, the most in the nation.
O’Connor also got a big raise. He signed a four-year deal that will pay him an average of $2.9 million annually, more than double the $1.4 million he made at Virginia, Mississippi newspaper The Clarion-Ledger reported.
O’Connor leaves a rich legacy behind at UVA. The Cavaliers had never appeared in the College World Series before he arrived and had made the NCAA tournament just three times. UVA reached 18 NCAA tournaments during O’Connor’s tenure. He won a school-record 917 games.
“I hope as time passes,” O’Connor told The Daily Progress, “the Virginia baseball fans can realize and understand that for 22 years I poured every ounce of energy I had into that program to make it the best that I could possibly make it for the players, the fans, for everyone involved.” In hiring Pollard, Virginia is seeking to replace one proven program-builder with another.
Like O’Connor when he arrived at Virginia, Pollard took over a Duke program that had had little postseason success. The Blue Devils had not reached the NCAA tournament in more than 50 years when Pollard took over in 2012. He led them to seven NCAA berths and four appearances in the Super Regionals, or final 16. The eight winners of the Super Regionals advance to the College World Series. Duke also won its first-ever ACC titles under Pollard, in 2021 and 2024.
Pollard grew up not far from Charlottesville, in Amherst County, and played collegiately at Davidson College. He began his coaching career as an assistant at his alma mater and was head coach at Pfeiffer University and Appalachian State University before going to Duke.
“I am excited for this new adventure at the University of Virginia, but I am leaving a big piece of my heart in Durham,” he told GoDuke.com.
