Chris Turco was hired as head baseball coach upon the conclusion of the 2021 baseball season taking the reins from hall of fame coach Jeff Rowland upon his retirement. Prior to being named head coach, Turco spent 18 years as an assistant coach with the Hounds starting his high school coaching career with the Greyhounds in the 2004 season.

During the 2022 season, Turco’s inaugural season as head coach, the Hounds captured both the region 6-AAAAAA championship as well as the AAAAAA state championship. During the run to the state title the Hounds posted a perfect 10-0 record during the playoffs which is the only unblemished playoff run ever posted by the Greyhounds. The Hounds won 26 of their final 27 games during the 2022 season enroute to a 33-7 overall record as well as a #17 national ranking by NHS / Baseball America. The Hounds also received national rankings by Collegiate Baseball (21), Max Preps (16), and Perfect game (17). For Turco’s efforts during the 2022 season he was awarded Cobb County coach of the year by the Marietta Daily Journal as well as Braves 400 club Coach of the year by the Atlanta Braves 400 fan club.

In his 3 years at the helm of the program, Turco has guided the Hounds to the state championship series all three chances he has had. The 2023 and 2024 squads have both finished state runner up to continue and impressive program run of 9 consecutive final 4 appearances and 7 state championship appearances over the last 8 years. All three teams have finished in the top 10 all time for wins with the 22 team having the 3rd most wins, 2023 having 5th most wins and 2024 finishing with the 9th most wins in program history. Turco has assisted 21 of his graduating seniors play at the collegiate level.

During Turco’s 18 years as assistant with the program Pope baseball experienced astronomical success capturing 4 additional state championships and 7 region championships while qualifying for the state playoffs 14 of the 18 seasons. During the Hound’s successful run, Pope finished ranked in the top 30 nationally five times with the 2009, 2017, and 2018 all finishing in the top 10 of the Baseball America poll, the 2013 team finishing 21st , and the 2016 state runner up team finishing ranked 26th in the country. During Turco’s tenure as baseball assistant, he has filled a variety of roles for the program serving mainly as the lead hitting coach for the program, but also serving as the program’s pitching coach, catching coach, outfield coach, and base-running coach. Turco coached summer ball for 4 years both with Pope Baseball and East Cobb Baseball.

Turco started his head coaching career on the fastpitch softball diamond with the Pope Fastpitch team serving 2 separate stints with the program totaling 14 years as head coach. During his tenure, Turco amassed over 330 wins while leading the Hounds to 2 state championships, 3 state runner ups, and 5 region championships. Turco led the Hounds to the state playoffs 12 of his 14 seasons at the helm and Turco closed out his softball career qualifying for the state finals tournament in Columbus 8 of the last 9 seasons as head coach taking the team to the state championship game his last 3 seasons. For his efforts with Pope Fastpitch, Turco has been named the State Coach of the year by the Georgia Dugout Club 5 times as well as Cobb County Coach of the year 3 times.

Turco has helped 25 Pope Fastpitch players reach the collegiate ranks and Turco has worked with numerous Pope baseball players that have advanced to play college baseball and beyond including 12 baseball players that have advanced to professional baseball. Turco has also been fortunate enough to work with 2 Gatorade players of the year with Josh Lowe being named POY for the 2016 baseball season and Kelly Barnhill being named POY for the 2014 softball season. For his inaugural head baseball coaching season, Turco had the good fortune of working with Dawson Campbell who was named state player of the year and an All American for his efforts both on the mound, at the plate and in CF for the Greyhounds.

Turco is a 1998 graduate of Pope High School where his baseball career earned him a scholarship to Presbyterian College. Upon completing his four year playing career at “PC”, Turco began his coaching career at Presbyterian helping lead the Blue Hose to the South Atlantic Conference championship and a spot in the NCAA national tournament in 2003.

Turco is married to the former Niki Eskew who was a collegiate soccer player at Anderson University and the Turco’s reside in Woodstock with their two children Wyatt and Maggie.