BUIES CREEK, N.C. – Campbell Athletics formally introduced Chris Marx as head baseball coach Wednesday in the lobby of the John W. Pope Jr. Convocation Center.
A packed audience filled with Campbell administration, coaches, faculty, staff, supporters, community members and media heard from University President Dr. J. Bradley Creed, Director of Athletics Hannah Bazemore and Marx during the gathering.
Marx was officially announced as the ninth NCAA Division I era head coach for the Camels on June 28.
“Our role has been, and will remain to be, to be developers of men,” said Marx. “Men that can go out into the community and can be great leaders in the community and great leaders in their household when their time at Campbell is done and finished.”
“Welcome back to Coach Marx and his wonderful family,” said Bazemore. “Chris Marx helped make Campbell Baseball into what it is today. He was there for back-to-back championships, regional bids and our first regional final. But during his five years as an assistant here he also fell in love with this community, with this university, with our fans, with this place.”
“Our job, moving forward, is to continue to show these players what it takes, to clearly communicate that accountability and discipline will ultimately lead to their successes in the future,” said Marx. “There will be challenging times and hard days ahead, but that is ultimately what prepares us for battle. The people sitting in that room on August 21 during our first team meeting, the bond will never have been thicker, the chip on their shoulder will never have been greater than it will be in that room. I’m here to fuel that fire every single day.”
The former Campbell assistant brings 17 seasons of collegiate coaching experience, following Justin Haire, who departed for Ohio State after guiding Campbell for 10 seasons.
“I’m here to tell you The Brotherhood is alive and well,” added Marx. “A week ago, when the job was announced, the first text I received was from Zach Neto, the shortstop of 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 been able to connect with these players that are here, and it goes to show how important this place is.”
Marx joins Campbell from Purdue, where he was the lead assistant and pitching coach for another former Campbell head coach, Greg Goff (2008-14), since 2020. Before the 2023 season, Marx transitioned to coaching position players while continuing to assist with the pitchers and recruiting.
“We want to eliminate fear,” added Marx. “I think fear is the single most limiting factor to people moving forward and accomplishing the things they want. We are going to continue to push the limits of development and our preparation. We want to continue to be outside-the-box thinkers, we want to run away from the status quo, and ultimately, we’ll let the wins and losses take care of themselves.”
In 2023, Marx helped guide the Purdue offense to a 6-2 Friday record during Big 10 play. Four different batters had 20-game on-base streaks, and the Boilermakers led the Big 10 in stolen bases (99) through the end of the conference tournament.
In the 2022 season, the Boilermakers set team records for strikeouts (479) and strikeouts per nine innings (9.57), also recording a program record for strikeouts in a four-game series in 2021 against Nebraska (46).
Prior to Purdue, Marx served as Haire’s lead assistant at Campbell for five seasons (2014-2019), directing the Camels’ recruiting efforts and guiding the CU offense before transitioning to pitching coach duties.
The Camels compiled a 72-47 record (40-13 Big South) from 2018 to 2019, winning at least 35 games each year while sweeping Big South Pitcher of the Year (Allan Winans, Michael Horrell) and Freshman of the Year (Logan Bender, Ryan Chasse) awards in both seasons.
Marx served as Campbell’s hitting coach from 2015-17. The Camels won 32 games in 2015 and posted the program’s top home run total since 2010, with Cole Hallum (12 homers) collecting Big South Player of the Year honors, and future MLB All-Star and Silver Slugger Cedric Mullins recording 80 hits. Right-hander Heath Bowers and catcher Steven Leonard joined Mullins as draftees in the 2015 MLB Draft.
In 2017, Drew Butler led the nation with 39 stolen bases, as Marx guided Campbell’s aggressiveness on the base path.
Marx recruited and/or coached numerous MLB Draft picks during his time in Buies Creek, with three to date, Mullins, Winans and Angels’ shortstop Zach Neto, have made their MLB debuts.
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).
Marx joined the staff at Arkansas-Little Rock prior to the 2012 season. That year, the Trojans hit a program-record 66 home runs, leading the nation in home runs per game and leading the Sun Belt in nine statistical categories.
Marx’s coaching career began in 2007, when he was a graduate assistant at Southern Indiana, helping guide USI to the 2010 NCAA Division II national title.
A native of Evansville, Ind., Marx played collegiately at Olney Central College (2004-05) and Ouachita Baptist University (2006-07) under future coaching partner Haire. OBU climbed to No. 1 in the NCAA DII rankings in 2007 while winning 50 games.
Marx earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Southern Indiana. He is joined in Buies Creek by his wife, Niki, and their three children, Clayton, Maddox and Everett.
