The search for a new Oklahoma State baseball coach has ended with a familiar name — Holliday.

Stillwater High School graduate and former Oklahoma State player Josh Holliday was named the next coach for Oklahoma State baseball at a press conference Friday, replacing Frank Anderson, who was fired after nine years at the helm.

“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 — who was an assistant at Oklahoma State under his father Tom Holliday from 2001 to 2003 — had been an assistant coach at Vanderbilt for the last three years.

“I talked to some really big names in the sport, but I can tell you that Josh Holliday’s name kept popping up on the radar,” Oklahoma State athletic director Mike Holder said.

“I feel really at peace with the decision we’ve made here,” Holder said. “I think this is a bright future for Cowboy baseball. ... I hope we have a great run here. We’d like to win some games, but more importantly we’re all about how we go about business here.

“We want to play by the rules, we want to put a product on the field we can be proud of, we want to have a team that’s disciplined — goes to class, makes grades, graduates and does all the things that we stand for. And I’m convinced that Josh Holliday is the guy to get that job done.”

While this will be Holliday’s first head coaching job, the 35-year-old former Oklahoma State standout said his main goal is building on the tradition already in place, including 19 College World Series berths.

“Our history and our players is really something that sets us apart,” Holliday said. “I embrace all the former players. I appreciate every single one of them — many of which were my heroes, my role models, many became my friends and many later became my teammates. To reach out to those people and bring them on board to support our players and our program is what I hope we’ll all join forces to do.”

“Being able to look at this program and understand what it was built on, what it stands for and what it could be in the future is something that’s going to be the goal,” Holliday said. “I want to unite the people that love this program behind the kids that play in it, and I want the energy and passion of support to provide that type of atmosphere that great teams and great programs have.”

Nick Snow is a sports reporter for The Stillwater NewsPress.