University of North Carolina Athletics
Baseball
- Title:
- Assistant Coach/Pitching Coach
- Email:
- rwoodard@unc.edu
- Phone:
- 919-962-0308
Robert Woodard returned to his alma mater as an assistant coach in 2016 and finished his second season as Carolina’s pitching coach in his second coaching stint at UNC. The all-time winningest pitcher in program history, Woodard posted a career record of 34-5 over four seasons as a Tar Heel. A native of Charlotte, North Carolina, Woodard was a three-time All-ACC performer and the 2006-07 recipient of the Patterson Medal, Carolina’s highest athletic honor. Following his professional playing career in the San Diego Padres system, Woodard spent the 2011 and 2012 seasons as an assistant at UNC before serving as the pitching coach at UNCW in 2013 and at Virginia Tech from 2014-16.
“No player in my tenure at North Carolina has had more of an impact on the program than Robert Woodard,” head coach Mike Fox said. “His career numbers speak for themselves. Finishing his time here as the winningest pitcher in the history of Carolina baseball and never losing a home game are simply incredible accomplishments. But more importantly, Woody elevated our program with a sense of urgency and total belief. He not only pitched but, along with a core of outstanding teammates, helped will our team to Omaha in both 2006 and 2007. He then helped us do the same thing in 2011 when he was on our staff. I am so excited to have him back in our program once again and look forward to working with him.”
“To say today is a special day for my family and me would be an understatement,” Woodard said upon his return to Chapel Hill. “As far back as I can remember, I’ve been passionate about the University of North Carolina, its programs, its tradition and the amazing people I have met who make this university so great. It is hard to put into words what it means for me to rejoin this coaching staff with Coach Fox and Coach Forbes, two of my closest friends and mentors for almost twenty years. I am thankful for the support of former players, teammates, fellow coaches and mentors, friends and family both in and outside of baseball. This opportunity would not be possible without you all. I’m excited to meet the team and get going toward the goals we all have as Tar Heels!”
Woodard came to Carolina after a standout prep career at Myers Park High School in Charlotte. Over four seasons in Chapel Hill, Woodard helped transform the UNC program into one of the most successful in all of college baseball. From 2004 to 2007, the Tar Heels won 195 games and advanced to back-to-back College World Series Finals in 2006 and 2007. He finished 34-5 in his college career with a perfect 22-0 record at Boshamer Stadium. He also left Carolina ranking among the top 10 in Atlantic Coast Conference history in victories and innings pitched.
Woodard was drafted in the 48th round of the 2006 MLB Draft by St. Louis but opted to return to school. That decision paid off as Woodard went 11-2 as a senior and improved his stock by 28 rounds, going in the 20th round to San Diego. He spent parts of three seasons in the Padres organization, rising to AAA Portland on two occasions and pitching with the MLB club in exhibition games before retiring from professional baseball in 2009.
Woodard began his coaching career with Carolina prior to the 2010 postseason. He then spent two full seasons as an assistant, during which the Tar Heels went 97-32 and advanced to the 2011 College World Series.
Woodard’s first stint as a full-time pitching coach came in 2013 at UNCW. The Seahawks finished the 2013 campaign 38-23 and 18-8 in the Colonial Athletic Association, advancing to the NCAA Charlottesville Regional. During the 2013 season, Seahawk pitchers posted a staff ERA of 3.95. Three UNCW hurlers earned all-conference honors, including CAA Pitcher of the Year Mat Batts. His recruiting efforts at UNCW helped set the stage for the Seahawks to make back-to-back regional appearances in 2015 and 2016.
Following his one season in Wilmington, Woodard spent three seasons as the pitching coach at Virginia Tech before returning to UNC in 2016. He was promoted during his second year with the Hokies, rising to the top assistant position as well as being named recruiting coordinator. While in Blacksburg, Woodard mentored MLB Draft selections Brad Markey, Sean Keselica, Aaron McGarity and Packy Naughton.
In the summer of 2016, Woodard was selected to be the roving pitching coordinator for the USA Baseball 18U National Team. While in that role, Woodard was responsible for evaluating each pitcher that participated in the Tournament of the Stars event and assisting in the selection of the pitching staff to participate in the National Team trials. The 18U National Team went on to win the gold medal at the Pan American Championships in Mexico. Woodard was also part of the USA Baseball 18U National Team Development Program in Chicago, Illinois.
Woodard's first season back in Chapel Hill was a successful one as the Tar Heels finished 49-14, won the ACC Coastal Division title outright and established a new school record with 23 conference wins. J.B. Bukauskas was named ACC Pitcher of the Year and was joined as a first-team All-American by redshirt freshman closer Josh Hiatt. Hiatt and fellow freshman Gianluca Dalatri were both consensus freshman All-Americans. Bukauskas, who went 9-1 with a 2.53 ERA and 116 strikeouts in 92.2 innings as a junior, was selected No. 15 overall by the Houston Astros in the 2017 MLB Draft. In addition to on-field duties, Woodard worked to assemble a student-driven data and analytics team that is headed by rising sophomore statistics and economics major Micah Daley-Harris.
Following the 2017 season, while still recruiting for the Tar Heels, Woodard was a pitching coach for one of the four USA Baseball 18U teams assembled at the Tournament of Stars to compete for the opportunity to make the USA Baseball 18U National Team in the fall of 2017.
Woodard and the Tar Heel pitching staff had another successful campaign during the 2018 season as they helped lead Carolina back to the College World Series with a 44-20 overall record. Winning its second consecutive ACC Coastal Championship and earning the No. 6 overall national seed, Carolina set a program record with 10 players selected in the 2018 MLB Draft, with seven of those players being pitchers. Rodney Hutchison was the first Tar Heel off the board with the Yankees 6th round selection and he was followed by Cody Roberts, Cooper Criswell, Josh Hiatt, Brett Daniels, Austin Bergner and Jason Morgan to round out the Tar Heel pitching staff in the draft.
