Oklahoma State Names Josh Holliday Head Baseball Coach

Former Oklahoma State player Josh Holliday has been named the 15th head baseball coach at Oklahoma State University.

Oklahoma State athletic director Mike Holder announced today that the 35-year old Holliday, who has spent the past three seasons as an assistant coach at Vanderbilt University, will replace Frank Anderson, who was fired after nine years at the helm for the Cowboys.

Holliday played for the Cowboys from 1996-1999, and reached two College World Series as a member of the Cowboys. He is the first former player to be named as head coach for OSU.

Over the past 11 years, Holliday has served as an assistant coach at several programs around the country. He began his coaching career at OSU, and then went on to N.C. State, Georgia Tech, and Arizona State before ending up at Vanderbilt.

"I'm very honored and very humbled to be given an opportunity to come back to OSU and return to a place that has meant so much to me and my family over the past 30-plus years," Holliday said. "I'm excited about the unique opportunity to build a future with a program that celebrates and recognizes its proud history, embraces the current players and works towards a future that everyone will be proud of and unite behind."

Holliday said it's important to restore a sense of pride in a program that has fallen on hard times in recent seasons.

"We're going to work to win each day, and over the course of time we're going to work to win a national championship," Holliday said. "We're going to do that together and do it in a way that enhances our players' lives academically, socially and athletically. I hope that plan of attack and approach is going to train our players with an approach that will stay with them the rest of their lives."

Holder said the connections Holliday has had with the OSU program throughout the years were a very positive thing in his search for a new coach.

"We are obviously very excited to welcome Josh back home to Stillwater and Oklahoma State," Holder said. "He will bring the enthusiasm, energy, and a competitive fire that comes with being 35 years of age. He has built a strong national reputation over the years, and I expect him to be on the job as soon as the press conference is completed."

Holliday was a four-year letterwinner who played in 256 games for the Cowboys. Holliday compiled a career .311 batting average to go along with 53 home runs, 62 doubles and 237 RBIs. He was inducted into the OSU Baseball Hall of Fame in 2003.

Holliday was also the Gatorade Player of the Year for Oklahoma as a senior at Stillwater High School. His father, Tom, was the head coach at OSU from 1997-2003, and was an assistant the 18 years prior to that. His younger brother is Matt Holliday, an All-Star outfielder for the St. Louis Cardinals.