Tanner gets his man in Holbrook

Gamecocks snag former Tar Heels assistant, recruiter to complete staff

New USC associate baseball coach Chad Holbrook jokes with members of the media following a press conference at the Colonial Center announcing his hiring.

Jeff Blake/jblake@thestate.com

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It was exactly 12 years and one month to the day Ray Tanner was introduced as the new baseball coach at USC that he found himself standing at the podium once again.

And just like that day in 1996, Chad Holbrook was in the room.

On Monday, Tanner introduced Holbrook as his new associate head coach. In so doing, both fulfilled a goal they established during Tanner’s first day on the job.

“I was making the first move of my coaching career, and there was a little nervousness for me,” said Tanner, who had never coached anywhere but his alma mater, N.C. State, before accepting the USC post.

“I remember stepping up to the podium and looking around and there’s a young Chad Holbrook sitting in the audience and ready to get on board,” Tanner said. “That’s something that has stuck with me from that day.”

Holbrook and Tanner had met during Holbrook’s playing days at North Carolina. By that day in 1996, Holbrook had been promoted from a student assistant to a full-time assistant at UNC. He happened to be in Columbia that day because his wife Jennifer was born and raised on Whaley Street.

“When (Tanner) was introduced here, I snuck my way into the press conference and sat in the back,” Holbrook said. “He looked up and saw me. I walked up and handed him a note card saying hopefully, one day, we’ll be able to work together and today it just came full circle.”

After a dozen years apart, both can now be counted among the best at what they do. Specifically, Holbrook developed into one of the nation’s top recruiters. He is responsible for recruiting the six most recent Tar Heels to reach the Major Leagues, including Andrew Miller, the sixth pick of the 2006 amateur draft.

“He’s a great evaluator,” Tanner said. “He’s been in the business for a long time, and he knows what he’s looking for. He knows people, he knows players and he has a lot of integrity.”

Holbrook will fill the same roles at USC as the ones he had in Chapel Hill.

“I’ll still coach the three-run homer, and he’ll coach everything else,” Tanner quipped.

Prior to the promotion of Monte Lee to recruiting coordinator last summer, Tanner had attempted to lure Holbrook.

The timing was not right.

Holbrook’s son, Reece, was undergoing treatment for pediatric leukemia, and he did not want to move the family away from Reece’s doctors. His cancer is now in remission.

Earlier this month, Lee left USC to take the head coaching post at College of Charleston. Tanner was on the phone to Holbrook within minutes.

“That’s sort of been the case for the last few years,” Tanner said. “What he has done as a coach and recruiter is second-to-none and everybody recognizes that in collegiate baseball. There are no secrets in our circles.

“He could have told me ‘No’ this year, but I would have asked him again when it came back around.”

After visiting with Tanner during the holiday weekend, Holbrook said it took about 24 hours to come to a decision. Once he did, his wife jumped in his arms and began to cry.

“She cried like a baby,” Holbrook said. “We’re here because we’re supposed to be here. It’s the right time, and it all worked out well. I’m so fortunate.”

Reach Obley at (803) 771-8473.

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