Charlottesville, VA (cvillerightnow.com): Ahead of his introductory press conference this upcoming Wednesday, new Virginia Baseball Coach Chris Pollard has introduced several of his former assistants as the members of his new coaching cadre at the University of Virginia. 

Pitching coach Brady Kirkpatrick, coming off a season that saw him supervising a pitching staff that held opponents to a .249 average, will lead UVA’s hurlers as Drew Dickinson’s successor. 

Derek Simmons joined the Duke coaching staff in 2025 after five years as the recruiting coordinator, hitting coach, and infielders’ coach at Indiana.  He will work as a recruiting coordinator and as the infielders coach at Virginia.   

Eric Tyler will be Virginia’s new hitting coach.  Tyler supervised a season that saw the Blue Devils’ hitters hit over 100 homeruns, bat in close to 500 runs, and walk over 400 times.  Tyler will also work as a recruiting coordinator.   

Finally, John Natoli will be Virginia’s new Director of Player Development, and Brian Sakowski will follow Pollard to Virginia while working in the same role on the Blue Devils’ staff as Director of Recruiting.