We talk about the “other sports” sometimes…but don’t really focus on them any more or less than what the “average fan” does. But, this news about the Wolfpack baseball program looks very significant to highlight.
Tom Holliday, Collegiate Baseball magazine’s 2005 pitching coach of the year, has joined the N.C. State staff as associate head coach. Holliday, who spent the past three years as pitching coach at Texas, has coached at the collegiate level for 30 years.
Holliday spent 26 years at Oklahoma State, the first 19 as pitching coach and recruiting coordinator, then he was the Cowboys’ head coach from 1997-2003.
He owns a 281-150 record as a head coach, reaching the College World Series in 1999 with Oklahoma State.
There is a lot more about the hire on GoPack.com at this link.
In Holliday’s 26 years in Stillwater, Oklahoma State made 11 College World Series appearances, including seven in a row from 1981-87. The Cowboys played in the CWS championship game in 1981, 1987 and 1990. He took Oklahoma State to Omaha as head coach in 1999, finishing the year with a 46-21 record and ranked No. 8 in the country. In his 26 years at Stillwater, Holliday coached nine All-Americans, 55 all-conference performers, six Freshman All-Americans, two U.S. National Team members, 36 academic all-conference honorees, and 155 players who went on to careers in professional baseball.
Holliday spent the last three years as the pitching coach at the University of Texas. The Longhorns were NCAA runners-up in 2004 and won the national championship in 2005. Interestingly, it was NC State that eliminated Texas in the 2006 NCAA Tournament. Holliday’s three Longhorn pitching staffs each ranked among the nation’s leaders statistically, and three of his pitchers at UT earned All-America honors. Nine pitchers from Holliday’s first two pitching staffs at Texas went on to play professional baseball, and three more were drafted in the 2006 MLB draft.
You really have to give NC State coach, Elliot Avent A LOT of credit for going out to the market and hiring one of the top names in the country. In all honesty, Holliday has a significantly better resume and list of accomplishments than Avent has accomplished. That takes balls. And it takes a true determination to want to win above all ‘political’ issues.
One other immediate impact that Holliday will have on NC State’s program is a re-validation of success. After TEN YEARS of failing to break through and failing to win a conference championship or qualify for a College World Series, Avent’s ability to recruit has got to have been negatively impacted. You can only sell a “future breakthrough” for so many years before 95% of the world stops buying. The remaining 5% are called Lee Fowler and the Herb Sendek Sunshine Squad. (Sorry…wrong sport…same concept).
Since 1996:
* Miami has attended 8 CWS
* Clemson has attended 4 CWS
* Georgia Tech has attended 2 CWS
* UNC-CH has attended 1 CWS
* Florida State has attended 4 CWS
* Ray Tanner’s South Carolina has attended 3 CWS
GREAT MOVE on hiring Holliday!!!
