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Pollard Announces Staff Changes, Hires
2/12/2021 3:00:00 PM | Baseball
DURHAM, N.C. – Duke head baseball coach Chris Pollard announced changes within his baseball staff, including the additions of Tyler Rost and Chris O'Neill.
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Chris Gordon, previously Duke's assistant to the head coach, elevates to the pitching coach position after the departure of Dusty Blake, who accepted an assignment within the St. Louis Cardinals organization as a Major League Pitching Strategist. New hires Rost and O'Neill will serve as the director of player development and the director of operations, respectively.
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"I am beyond thrilled for Dusty and this tremendous opportunity in front of him," Pollard said. "He is not just a coaching colleague; he is a former player of mine and a close friend. I've said for the last two years that Dusty will be a pitching coach at the MLB level and this puts him just one step away from achieving that goal. I am grateful for the transformative work that he has done with the Duke pitching staff over the last three years."
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Before arriving at Duke in August of 2017, Gordon was the pitching coach and recruiting coordinator for three seasons at East Tennessee State. In the spring of 2017, his final season at ETSU, Gordon's staff threw 461 strikeouts to help the Buccaneers to their first winning season since 2013.
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"Promoting Chris Gordon to pitching coach was the easiest hire I have made in my time at Duke," Pollard continued. "He has been heavily involved and a driving force in the integration of analytics into our pitching development program. He has prior experience as a pitching coach at the Division I level and he and I have been discussing the importance of his preparing for an opportunity like this for the past two years. He will hit the ground running in a way that would be impossible for anyone coming in from outside the program."
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Rost is familiar with Durham as he comes to Duke from North Carolina Central University, where he served as a volunteer assistant coach in 2017 and an assistant coach in 2020. Most recently, he coached and mentored outfielder Carter Williams who signed as a free agent with the San Francisco Giants. Rost also oversaw the development of Luis DeLeon, the 2020 MEAC Most Impressive Hitter and a 2021 Preseason All-American.
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Prior to his second stint at NC Central, Rost coached two seasons at Winston Salem State University (2018-19). The Rams were a combined 65-36 over the two seasons and were crowned HBCU National Champions and D2 Independent Tournament Champions in 2019. His hitters slugged 53 home runs in 2018 and stole over 100 bases during each season. His outfield group produced MLB draft picks Randy Norris (2018, 19th round) and E.P. Reese (2019, 25th round).Â
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Rost also made stops at Wake Tech Community College (2016) as an assistant and Greenville University (2014-15) as a graduate assistant.
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He played two years of professional baseball as an outfielder for the Alpine Cowboys in the Pecos League after being a four-year starter at Cedarville University (2008-11).
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O'Neill joins Duke after a one-year stint as an assistant coach at Bucknell University. While with the Bison, he oversaw the development of outfielder Chris Cannizzaro, who was named the Patriot League's 2020 breakout hitter by D1Baseball.com.
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Prior to Bucknell, O'Neill was on the staff at Marshall University for two seasons (2018-19). In 2019, O'Neill helped guide the Thundering Herd to its first winning season since 2016, as well as help the team rank second in batting average (.285) and stolen bases (84) in Conference USA action. In addition, he mentored shortstop Elvis Peralta, who was drafted by the Oakland Athletics in the 26th round of the 2019 MLB Draft.
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O'Neill has coached at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (2017), Concordia University (2015-16) and was the manager of the Grand Lake Mariners in the summers of 2016 and 2017. He began his coaching career at Tarboro High School in North Carolina in 2014 after playing collegiate baseball at King's College (2008-12).
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"On behalf of all of the Duke Baseball family, I want to welcome Chris and Tyler to the program," Pollard said. "Both of these guys are familiar faces around Duke baseball as they have worked a number of our camps over the past several years. These guys fit the mold of our staff; they are grinders. Both coaches were guys that I identified over the last two years as great fits for our staff if that opportunity became a reality. I am thrilled to have them officially on board!"
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Duke Baseball Coaching Staff
Chris Pollard  – Head Coach
Josh Jordan   – Associate Head Coach
Jason Stein   – Assistant Coach
Chris Gordon  – Pitching Coach
Tyler Rost     – Director of Player Development
Chris O'Neill  – Director of Operations
#GoDuke
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Chris Gordon, previously Duke's assistant to the head coach, elevates to the pitching coach position after the departure of Dusty Blake, who accepted an assignment within the St. Louis Cardinals organization as a Major League Pitching Strategist. New hires Rost and O'Neill will serve as the director of player development and the director of operations, respectively.
Â
"I am beyond thrilled for Dusty and this tremendous opportunity in front of him," Pollard said. "He is not just a coaching colleague; he is a former player of mine and a close friend. I've said for the last two years that Dusty will be a pitching coach at the MLB level and this puts him just one step away from achieving that goal. I am grateful for the transformative work that he has done with the Duke pitching staff over the last three years."
Â
Before arriving at Duke in August of 2017, Gordon was the pitching coach and recruiting coordinator for three seasons at East Tennessee State. In the spring of 2017, his final season at ETSU, Gordon's staff threw 461 strikeouts to help the Buccaneers to their first winning season since 2013.
Â
"Promoting Chris Gordon to pitching coach was the easiest hire I have made in my time at Duke," Pollard continued. "He has been heavily involved and a driving force in the integration of analytics into our pitching development program. He has prior experience as a pitching coach at the Division I level and he and I have been discussing the importance of his preparing for an opportunity like this for the past two years. He will hit the ground running in a way that would be impossible for anyone coming in from outside the program."
Â
Rost is familiar with Durham as he comes to Duke from North Carolina Central University, where he served as a volunteer assistant coach in 2017 and an assistant coach in 2020. Most recently, he coached and mentored outfielder Carter Williams who signed as a free agent with the San Francisco Giants. Rost also oversaw the development of Luis DeLeon, the 2020 MEAC Most Impressive Hitter and a 2021 Preseason All-American.
Â
Prior to his second stint at NC Central, Rost coached two seasons at Winston Salem State University (2018-19). The Rams were a combined 65-36 over the two seasons and were crowned HBCU National Champions and D2 Independent Tournament Champions in 2019. His hitters slugged 53 home runs in 2018 and stole over 100 bases during each season. His outfield group produced MLB draft picks Randy Norris (2018, 19th round) and E.P. Reese (2019, 25th round).Â
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Rost also made stops at Wake Tech Community College (2016) as an assistant and Greenville University (2014-15) as a graduate assistant.
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He played two years of professional baseball as an outfielder for the Alpine Cowboys in the Pecos League after being a four-year starter at Cedarville University (2008-11).
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O'Neill joins Duke after a one-year stint as an assistant coach at Bucknell University. While with the Bison, he oversaw the development of outfielder Chris Cannizzaro, who was named the Patriot League's 2020 breakout hitter by D1Baseball.com.
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Prior to Bucknell, O'Neill was on the staff at Marshall University for two seasons (2018-19). In 2019, O'Neill helped guide the Thundering Herd to its first winning season since 2016, as well as help the team rank second in batting average (.285) and stolen bases (84) in Conference USA action. In addition, he mentored shortstop Elvis Peralta, who was drafted by the Oakland Athletics in the 26th round of the 2019 MLB Draft.
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O'Neill has coached at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (2017), Concordia University (2015-16) and was the manager of the Grand Lake Mariners in the summers of 2016 and 2017. He began his coaching career at Tarboro High School in North Carolina in 2014 after playing collegiate baseball at King's College (2008-12).
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"On behalf of all of the Duke Baseball family, I want to welcome Chris and Tyler to the program," Pollard said. "Both of these guys are familiar faces around Duke baseball as they have worked a number of our camps over the past several years. These guys fit the mold of our staff; they are grinders. Both coaches were guys that I identified over the last two years as great fits for our staff if that opportunity became a reality. I am thrilled to have them officially on board!"
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Duke Baseball Coaching Staff
Chris Pollard  – Head Coach
Josh Jordan   – Associate Head Coach
Jason Stein   – Assistant Coach
Chris Gordon  – Pitching Coach
Tyler Rost     – Director of Player Development
Chris O'Neill  – Director of Operations
#GoDuke
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