'Incredible Journey:' Mike Fox keeps the Heels on top despite dealing with frequent losses to the pros

CHAPEL HILL --After 26 years of coaching college baseball, there's very little that North Carolina's Mike Fox hasn't seen, heard or done.

But he will admit -- with a bemused smile -- that four College World Series berths in the past four years were not expected.

"It's been an incredible journey; just so surreal," Fox said. "Sometimes I go home, and my wife and I look at each other, and we're like, ‘Would you have ever dreamed this when we were sitting at the kitchen table in Rocky Mount thinking, should we make this move?' "

That moment came 11 years ago, when Fox was offered the chance to leave his job as the coach at N.C. Wesleyan and return to UNC, which he helped reach the College World Series in 1978 as a scrappy second baseman.

"It's been a great blessing for me personally," Fox said. "And I'm very much aware that it could come to a screeching halt at any time for a number of years, and not for any reason other than sometimes it's not meant to be."

Fox's Tar Heels will play their opener in the College World Series at 2 p.m. today, taking on Arizona State at Rosenblatt Stadium in Omaha, Neb. UNC (47-16) is still trying to win its first national championship, after runner-up finishes in 2006 and 2007.

"I've got to be careful because I don't want to sell the kids short, but I think you have to be surprised, realistically," Fox said, referring to the four trips to Omaha. "Come on; it's very difficult to do even if you're really good, even if you're the best team in the country from start to finish.

"Baseball can be one bounce of the ball. It can be one pitch. It can be any little, minor thing. There's such a fine line between winning and losing. These kids have believed it, and they've jelled at the right time."

North Carolina is the first ACC school -- and 10th in the nation -- to make four consecutive World Series appearances. This will be its eighth World Series appearance overall, half of them since Fox became the coach.

Billy Godwin, the coach at East Carolina, knows that making it to the College World Series four straight years is the baseball equivalent of making it to the Final Four in basketball four straight years.

"You have to be very good, which they have been," Godwin said. "You have to have some things go your way. They've got an outstanding program, and Mike's done an outstanding job."

Picking his spots

Fox can't cite a specific reason UNC has been so successful the last four seasons. He does know that the 2006 NCAA Super Regional in Tuscaloosa, Ala., was a critical time for his program.

In that series, Chad Flack hit a walk-off, two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth to beat Alabama and send UNC to its first World Series since Fox became coach.

"I know the home run Flack hit kind of burst the dam a little bit and opened up the door that we could finally get there," Fox said. "But who knew that we were just going to keep doing it? It's been quite amazing."

Recruiting the state's top high-school players has helped. And Fox seems to know when and how to push his teams, as he has this season.

After a tough three-game series at N.C. State in early May -- UNC lost two of three, was shut out once and scored just nine runs -- the team held a players-only meeting after returning to Chapel Hill.

Fox knew about the meeting but decided not to intervene. He let the players talk among themselves and discuss problems. The next practice was normal, with no mention of the meeting.

The next series, at Boston College four days later, started badly. UNC scored one run and lost again. Fox decided it was time for him to speak up, and he gave a stern lecture. The Tar Heels have gone 8-2 since, with five victories in the NCAA Tournament.

"You have to really pick the right time to do that," Fox said. "You can't give but about one of those a year because they kind of fall on deaf ears, if you're not careful."

Fox, in his 11th season at UNC, needs one win to become the third coach with 500 victories at the school.

Three wins in Omaha would give the Tar Heels 50 victories for the fourth consecutive season, and their 212 wins the last four seasons are the most in major-college baseball.

Always adapting

Fox keeps building winning teams despite constant movement in his program. Juniors Dustin Ackley, Alex White and Kyle Seager most likely will leave school after the season.

Ackley was the No. 2 pick in the major-league draft last week, and White was the No. 15 overall choice. Seager was selected in the third round.

Two other juniors -- top reliever Brian Moran and catcher Mark Fleury -- also were drafted and could be on the way out. Two recruits, pitcher Jacob Turner and outfielder Donovan Tate (who also plays football), were first-round selections and probably will not enroll at UNC. Two other recruits were late-round draft picks.

"We want good kids," Fox said. "We're very pro-college here. We're not anti-professional baseball at all. We've never one time told a young man what to do. I would never do that."

Fox has kept close to some of the recruits he has signed but never coached after they chose pro baseball over college.

He sends text messages to pitcher Rick Porcello, a 2007 recruit and first-round draft pick who signed with the Detroit Tigers out of high school for $7.29 million.

"I wish we had the basketball rule where I at least had them for one year," Fox said. "I used to really stress about it, but it's part of the world we know."

Fox will continue signing top high-school players, even if they choose to play professionally and never enter school. He knows of no other sound way to sustain a program.

"We have to protect ourselves," Fox said. "You have a choice here of trying to protect yourself a little bit against the draft or just trying to hit it right on the nose.

"Then you walk in the dugout, and you look over at the other dugout, and you think that the other team has better players than you do. I don't like that feeling.

"I'd rather sit here and sweat out a couple of guys with the draft and know that we have some other ones who may slip through and may drop and may attend here."

More than baseball

The current team members describe Fox as a "players' coach." Seager said he appreciates Fox's understanding nature and his relaxed but strict coaching style.

Ackley, the greatest hitter in school history, said that his three seasons with Fox have made him a better player and have prepared him for the pros. White, an All-ACC starting pitcher, found a consistent program at UNC after being unsure what college would be like.

Senior right fielder Garrett Gore said that the four teams he has played on have all been close because of Fox's coaching. Fox doesn't want cliques and asks that freshmen be given as much respect as veterans.

"When I was a freshman I didn't understand things, and why we did this or why we did that," Gore said. "Now I know why. He's prepared us to be better people outside of baseball. That's really what counts."

Godwin, the ECU coach, isn't surprised by Fox's success. He was an assistant to Fox at N.C. Wesleyan in 1989, the year Fox led that school to the NCAA Division III title.

"Mike is very passionate about what he does," Godwin said. "He keeps it disciplined. And he recruits the right kind of guys.

"He's a hard worker. He has an outstanding staff. When you put those things together, that breeds success."

Fox has played or coached in all 13 of UNC's World Series wins. He wants to bring home the title this season but isn't obsessed with winning it.

"It would be a thrill, certainly," Fox said. "It would be a thrill to watch the kids experience it, probably more than anything else. I don't think it would validate anything. In my mind, I want our program to be about a lot of things. Winning is certainly part of that.

"I'm just glad we have the opportunity. I'm just glad that we're one of eight teams left and we have a chance. If we go out there, and we're the last team standing, and we get that last out, it would probably mean a lot more to the University of North Carolina as a whole.

"I won't sell it short; it would mean a lot to me, certainly."

■ Bill Cole can be reached at bcole@wsjournal.com.

The Fox file

■ Name: Mike Fox

■ Position: Head baseball coach at North Carolina, 11th season

■ Age: 53

■ Hometown: Asheville

■ Education: Graduated from East Mecklenburg High School, 1974…. Bachelor's degree from UNC, 1978 (physical education)…. Master's degree from UNC, 1979 (teaching).

■ Playing career: Three-year letterman at 2B for UNC (1976-78)…. Hit .277 as a senior and made the all-tournament team at the 1978 College World Series…. Played two seasons of JV basketball at UNC.

■ Previous positions: Head coach at N.C. Wesleyan, 15 seasons (540-141-4)…. Head coach at Raleigh Millbrook High School, 2 seasons.

■ Major accomplishments: Has led UNC baseball through its most successful stretch, with four straight trips to the College World Series, 10 NCAA Tournament appearances and a combined record of 499-206-1…. 2008 national coach of the year (Baseball America)…. One of only six men to play in and coach his alma mater to the College World Series…. Career record of 1,039-347-5 and 24 NCAA Tournament berths in 26 seasons as a head coach…. Coached N.C. Wesleyan to Division III national championship in 1989 and was named D-3 national coach of the year.