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CHAD HOLBROOK NAMED 2011 ABCA/BASEBALL AMERICA ASSISTANT COACH OF THE YEAR
Columbia,
S.C. – South Carolina associate head baseball coach Chad Holbrook has
been named the 2011 American Baseball Coaches Association/Baseball
America Assistant Coach of the Year. Now in his fourth season as
associate head coach and recruiting coordinator for the baseball
program, Holbrook serves as hitting instructor, oversees the Gamecock
offense, including base running and the short game, and is the third
base coach. He also works with the outfielders.
“I am very
honored and humbled to receive this award from the ABCA and Baseball
America,” said Coach Holbrook. “It’s an award that I share with
Coach Meyers and Coach Esposito because without their hard work we
wouldn’t have enjoyed the success that we have had. It’s a
privilege to work for Coach Tanner. As the leader of our program,
he makes it fun to come to work every day. He gives all of his
assistants an incredible amount of responsibility and wants his
assistants and players to receive all the credit. We have great
kids to coach. They listen, they are receptive and they
understand our team concept. I’ve been awfully lucky to be in the
same dugout with all of our players, they are a special group.
I’m fortunate to be a part of a great staff and a great program here at
the University of South Carolina.”
A tremendous evaluator of
talent, Holbrook recently was named the No. 10 best recruiter in all of
college sports by ESPNU & ESPN The Magazine in the publication's
2011 January edition. The list was put together in conjunction with
three-dozen experts who were asked the question: Who are the top 20
recruiters in college sports? Holbrook is the only baseball coach on
the list. This past fall, Collegiate Baseball ranked the South
Carolina baseball recruiting class No. 1 in the country as well.
Holbrook's
offensive prowess has made an immediate impact on the South Carolina
baseball program in his first three seasons. His guidance was
instrumental in helping the Gamecocks to back-to-back national
championships in 2010 and 2011 at the College World Series. Holbrook
has helped in the development of two-time All-SEC selection Christian
Walker, who hit a team-best .358 (97-for-271) along with 10 HR and 62
RBI in 2011. That offensive output helped Walker to earn third-team
All-America accolades from Baseball America. Holbrook also helped
mentor 2011 All-SEC and College World Series Most Outstanding Player
Scott Wingo, who improved his batting average to .338 (81-for-240) in
his senior season.
Holbrook also played a key role in 2011 MLB
supplemental draft selection Jackie Bradley Jr.'s Gamecock career. In
2010 Bradley was a 2010 All-SEC selection and College World Series Most
Outstanding Player. That season, Holbrook helped to oversee an offense
that peaked in the postseason with a .309 batting average in 12
postseason contests. Marzilli was the team's top postseason hitter with
a .419 average (18-for-43) with Walker right behind him at .389
(21-for-54) and Bradley hitting .348 with four HR and 17 RBI. Carolina
finished the season with a .300 team batting average as well as a .392
on-base percentage. The squad's 734 hits were second highest in the
conference with the team also tallying 298 walks, 14th highest in the
country. In 2009, Holbrook's first season, the Gamecocks finished with
a team batting average of .310 on the year, the highest average in the
last nine seasons, along with an improved on-base percentage of .394
and a .528 slugging percentage. Carolina was fifth in the nation with
109 home runs. Among the players he tutored that first year were
Freshman All-America Jackie Bradley Jr. and 2009 All-SEC selections,
Justin Dalles, Nick Ebert, Bobby Haney and DeAngelo Mack.
"We
are fortunate to have Coach Holbrook as an integral part of our
program," said head coach Ray Tanner. "He is an exceptional coach,
recruiter and mentor for our players. The job he has done and continues
to do is exemplary. He is one of the top coaches in the country and he
is an outstanding ambassador for the University of South Carolina."
Prior
to joining the Gamecock program, Holbrook worked for 15 seasons on the
North Carolina coaching staff. While at UNC, the Tar Heels made 11 NCAA
Tournament appearances including four NCAA Super Regionals and three
trips to the College World Series. The 2007 squad also captured an ACC
championship, the first in Chapel Hill since 1990 when Holbrook was a
freshman player.
At UNC, Holbrook mentored several top players
including 2008 second-team All-America outfielder Tim Fedroff,
third-team All-America first baseman Dustin Ackley and third-team
All-America second baseman Kyle Seager. Ackley also earned third-team
All-America honors in 2007 and was both Baseball America &
Collegiate Baseball's Freshman of the Year. Ackley was recently drafted
No. 2 overall in the 2009 MLB Draft by the Seattle Mariners.
In
addition, Holbrook was instrumental in recruiting current Major League
Baseball players Daniel Bard, Chris Iannetta, Andrew Miller and Kyle
Snyder to UNC.
As recruiting coordinator for the North Carolina
program, Holbrook put together consecutive top 10 recruiting classes
seasons that helped the Tar Heels in making three consecutive College
World Series appearances. From 2006-2008, North Carolina led the nation
in wins with 54 in 2006, 57 in 2007 and 54 in 2008. PG Cross Checker
ranked his last UNC recruiting class No. 3 in the nation. Holbrook's
2007 class ranked fourth in the nation by Baseball America with his
2006 class selected eighth in the country. Baseball America also ranked
his 2004 class 11th in the nation with the publication naming the Tar
Heels recruiting class of 2003 as the No. 1 group in the country. That
2003 class also tied for first in Collegiate Baseball's recruiting
rankings with South Carolina.
Under Holbrook's eye, UNC batted
.324 as a team in the 2008 season and posted six of the top seven
hitting seasons in Tar Heel history. The Tar Heels led the nation in
hits in 2007 as well with 820 to finish the year.
The school
record for batting average in Chapel Hill was also set under Holbrook's
direction in 2002 when the Tar Heels finished with a .325 mark.
Holbrook
is a 1994 graduate of North Carolina with a degree in physical
education. He is the son of Eddie Holbrook, former head men's
basketball coach for Gardner-Webb and Furman.
Holbrook and his
wife, the former Jennifer Hilliard, were married in August of 2000.
They have two sons, Reece, who was born on May 4, 2002, and Cooper, who
was born on June 14, 2004.
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