South Carolina Baseball: Some significant candidates to be the Gamecock head coach

South Carolina Baseball Head Coaching Candidates:
Veterans Who Are New Stars in the Industry

Sometimes things just "click" for a coach and his program even after being on the job for a while. For two coaches many consider to be on the South Carolina baseball hot board, this is because rebuilds were necessary.

Tom Walter, Wake Forest Demon Deacons Head Coach

Wake Forest Demon Deacons head coach Tom Walter has figured out how to win with less. After a long rebuild in Winston-Salem, he turned a program that had only made seven NCAA Tournaments in its history into a real player in a good ACC.

He's also won with a loaded roster.

After building Wake Forest to national prominence, 2023 saw the Deacs make their first College World Series ever and win their first ACC regular season title since the '60s. Walter's team didn't win it all in Omaha, but the head coach established himself as an elite skipper.

Wake Forest has poured much more money into their baseball program recently, and he signed an extension last summer, so it will be harder to lure Walter away from the program than it would have a few years ago. However, it is still a step up in prestige from Wake to Carolina, so, perhaps, the Gamecocks can give him something to think about if he winds up being part of the interview process.

Chris Pollard, Duke Blue Devils Head Coach

Chris Pollard has coached in the state of North Carolina for a long time. After seven seasons as an assistant or a D-III head coach, Pollard became the head coach at Appalachian State, a team he led for 8 years. He has been with the Duke Blue Devils for the 12 seasons since he left the Mountaineers.

Pollard took over a Duke program that was viewed (comfortably) in the bottom half of the ACC and has made them a consistent contender. He has the highest coaching winning percentage at the school over the past 70 years, and despite not making an NCAA Tournament since the early '60s before taking over, Pollard has led Duke to the postseason six times, including three trips to the Super Regionals.

Pollard is a good coach, but because of a tough buyout that would make his hiring that much more expensive, his name probably should be moved down a bit on the list.