The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1545830
BY NOAH FLEISCHMAN fter two seasons at NC State as director of base- ball operations, Chris Hart wanted to stay in an on-field coaching posi- tion going into the 2007 cam pai g n. B u t a n ew NCAA rule had changed the nature of the job. Going forward, he'd be tied to a desk and wouldn't be able to wear a uniform. That didn't hold much appeal. At the time, the 26-year-old aspir- ing assistant barely had any experience. He'd spent a season as hitting coach at St. Petersburg (Fla.) College and a summer in Virginia's Valley League. He wanted to prove to Wolfpack skipper Elliott Avent that he deserved an op- portunity to serve on the full-time staff, so when a job opened up on Avent's staff that offseason, the ambitious Hart didn't wait for anyone to assign him any work. He started driving around the country to recruit, heading first to Atlanta, then to Florida. Hart was de- termined to make a positive impact, and he was going to do it in a hurry, hoping that Avent would promote him to the assistant coaching position. That's just what the Pack's veteran head coach ended up doing. Avent took a chance on the former Florida State utility man, confident that Hart's youth and inexperience wouldn't be a liability. "I think everybody in our world told him not to do it," Hart recently recalled. "He doesn't have the experience. You don't know if he's going to be able to A 38 ■ THE WOLFPACKER HART'S DESIRE Driven To Succeed, Longtime Assistant Chris Hart Takes Charge Of The NC State Baseball Program Hart was named the Wolfpack's new head coach on May 22, one day after Elliott Avent announced he would be stepping down after three decades at the helm. PHOTO COURTESY NC STATE ATHLETICS