Head coach Scott Forbes uses history with Diamond Heels to fuel play in CWS

Following the post-game dogpile, the many embraces and the initial celebrations, head coach Scott Forbes finally retired to his screened-in back porch. 

He said he doesn’t remember when he left Boshamer Stadium or even when he went to sleep. But he does remember one thing during that first moment of silence after punching his ticket to the Men’s College World Series. 

Forbes received a steady stream of messages from former players dating back to the beginning of his 27-year-long career.

One text came from someone he coached back in 1999, a player who would drive the bus back home while Forbes slept during his stint as head coach of the Wilmington Sharks. He even received a FaceTime call from now-Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Zac Gallen amid the MLB season.

In the whirlwind of Omaha celebrations, Forbes remembers reading those messages on his back porch. 

“Those were the most meaningful ones for sure,” he said. 

Since beginning his fourth season at the helm of the UNC program, the ACC Coach of the Year has experienced unprecedented success during his tenure. Not only did he help his team to a Coastal Division and ACC regular season championship finish, but after earning the No. 4 national seed, he also pushed them to a CWS trip for the first time since 2018 after the Tar Heels beat West Virginia, 2-1, on Saturday.

Along with reminding his team that every game is a process, Forbes also reminded the Tar Heels of one mantra before beginning the postseason: Don’t forget who packed your parachute. 

He challenged his players to never forget who helped them along the way. And for Forbes, he remembers every individual who guided him, starting with former UNC head coach Mike Fox. 

“The reason I’m sitting in this position is because coach Fox took a chance on a renegade junior college player that he didn't have to take a chance on,” Forbes said. 

The current head coach began assisting Fox in 1998 at N.C. Wesleyan. With the exception of three seasons from 2003 to 2005, Forbes stayed by Fox’s side as a pitching, hitting or assistant coach until he gained the reins in the summer of 2020. 

So, with the possibility of earning the team’s first-ever national championship title in reach, Forbes reminds himself and challenges his team to consider those that came before them — the ones that made North Carolina baseball what it is. 

“I want to do all we can to win a national championship for all the guys that I’ve been in the dugout with that they set the standard,” Forbes said. “Some of these former players that are back here, they set the standard and I was just lucky to be a part of it.”

And his players have taken this message to heart. 

After redshirt sophomore left-handed pitcher Dalton Pence sprinted to first base to record the last out against WVU, he reflected on what it meant to push the team to Omaha for Forbes. 

“I don’t think you’ll find a coaching staff in the country that loves their players as much as this team,” Pence said. “We owe everything to this program.”

The backbone of this team is built on love and appreciation. 

The Diamond Heels have made it this far because they want to win, but they also want to succeed for each other and those who came before them. 

“[Forbes] really does care for us,” junior center fielder Vance Honeycutt said. “He loves us and he just wants the best for us, and the look on everybody’s face and [Forbes] face after that last out, it was priceless.”

So, as the Diamond Heels look to begin play in the CWS starting on Friday against Virginia, they will take this feeling into Omaha. 

And while first-year catcher Luke Stevenson admitted he blacked out as soon as the dogpile formed and Forbes doesn’t recall what time he went to sleep on Saturday, the head coach will remember that silent moment on his back porch.

The countless messages. The journey to establishing himself as head coach of the North Carolina baseball team. The people who got him here. 

During his first CWS appearance at the helm, Forbes will remember past players and enjoy his fleeting time with his current team to hopefully fulfill the only achievement missing from the Diamond Heels program — a national championship. 

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