Report: Chad Holbrook back in mix for College for Charleston job

At first he was in. Then he was out. Now, he might be back in.

The College of Charleston’s search for a new baseball coach and where former South Carolina coach Chad Holbrook fits in took a lot of twists and turns on Wednesday.

Holbrook, who departed USC following the 2017 season, was considered the leading candidate to replace Matt Heath because of his close ties to Charleston athletic director Matt Roberts, who was a player at North Carolina in the mid-1990s when Holbrook was an assistant there.

But, according to the Charleston Post and Courier (http://bit.ly/2uMi9sW), Holbrook faded as a candidate when school president Glenn McConnell and Roberts received support from ex-players for N.C. State pitching coach Scott Foxhall, a former player and coach for the Cougars.

New York Yankees outfielder Brett Gardner was among the former players lobbying McConnell and Roberts for Foxhall, according to the paper.

Holbrook was one of three candidates to interview for the job, along with Foxhall and Clemson assistant Bradley LeCroy.

But McConnell now is agreeable to Holbrook getting the job, sources told the paper.

At South Carolina, Holbrook took over a team that played in three consecutive College World Series finals and could never return to Omaha. He went 200-106, but his first three teams saw their seasons end earlier than the year before, and despite a 46–18 record and Super Regional trip in 2016, he missed the NCAA Tournament two of his final three seasons.

That snapped a run of 15 NCAA Tournament appearances.

C of C is coming off a 28-31 record and its first losing season since 2001 under Heath. Under previous coach Monte Lee, College of Charleston reached the NCAA Tournament four times in his final six seasons, with a regional win in 2014.

This story was originally published July 20, 2017 at 10:49 AM with the headline "Report: Chad Holbrook back in mix for College for Charleston job."