By Pat Welter

Campbell baseball’s introductory press conference for new head coach Chris Marx was more of a “good to see you” than a “nice to meet you.” Marx is taking over for longtime head coach Justin Haire who left for the head coaching job at Ohio State. Marx was Haire’s lead assistant for Haire’s first five years in Buies Creek from 2015-2019.

“We didn’t have any fear we were willing to think outside the box,” Marx said to WRAL. “Ultimately we came up with a really good blueprint and I had a big part of the footprint of this program from an offensive standpoint, from a pitching standpoint and a recruiting standpoint. I think there’s a lot of really good things that are already in place.”

During Marx’s time as an assistant at Campbell the Camels made the NCAA tournament twice (2018,2019). The 2019 MLB Draft saw a record four Camels selected, led by 40th overall selection Seth Johnson, Campbell’s highest ever draft pick at the time, followed by Matthew Barefoot (OF, Houston Astros), Michael Horrell (RHP, Houston Astros) and Tyson Messer (RHP, Chicago White Sox).

“I’m here to tell you the brotherhood is alive and well,” Marx said during his opening remarks in the lobby of the John W. Pope Jr. Convocation Center. “A week ago when the job was announced the first text I received when my phone dinged 150 times in a row was from Zach Neto, the shortstop for the Los Angeles Angels. Since then I’ve heard from a bunch of different alumni from different time periods, I’ve heard from past coaches, I’ve gotten to connect with these players that are here and it goes to show how important this place is.”

Marx comes to Campbell after serving under former Campbell coach Greg Goff at Purdue. In his five seasons there Marx worked in a variety of roles including pitching coach, coaching position players and assisting with recruiting. He’s also been an assistant coach at Little Rock and Southern Indiana.

“This was obviously the dream, your whole career this is what you work for,” Marx told WRAL. “I’ve gotten to run half the team at several places whether it’s the pitching staff or the hitters. I was in control of communicating the message and setting the plan, It’s not completely unfamiliar to me.”

Haire has long been in the conversation for other head coaching jobs thanks to his success at Campbell. For director of athletics Hannah Bazemore, Marx was an easy choice.

“It was a no brainer, for us it was Chris from the start,” Bazemore told WRAL. “Everything was measured against him. Being able to bring him back and all that he brings to the table, his connection to this place, the way he embraces this place and fell in love with this community from before and also his ability to recruit and his connection to the brotherhood was extremely important.”

Goff and Haire left Campbell for Big Ten programs, but Marx isn’t viewing this job as a stepping stone.

“This is a big time job as well,” Marx said. “[Haire] got an opportunity in his home state and a chance to grow.”

“It’s not about the type of job this is the next challenge ahead of me and I couldn’t be more fired up to take it head on,” Marx said.

“One of my conversations with Chris early on was ‘what is it going to take to break through regionals?'” Bazemore said. “Right now that’s what’s on our minds and being able to put together a recipe and look at that blueprint that he talked about and what tweaks do we need to make.”

Source: wralsportsfan.com