NC State Wolfpack

July 7, 2006

RALEIGH, N.C. - Tom Holliday, Collegiate Baseball magazine's 2005 National College Pitching Coach of the Year, has joined the NC State baseball coaching staff as associate head coach. Holliday, who spent the last three years as pitching coach at the University of Texas, has coached at the collegiate level for 30 years and is widely respected throughout the sport.

Holliday began his coaching career as an assistant coach at Arizona State University during the Sun Devils' run to the 1977 national championship, and has been with winning programs ever since. He owns a 281-150 record as a head coach, and has a combined record of 1446-527 in 30 years as an assistant and head coach in the college ranks.

After his year at Arizona State, Holliday spent 26 years at Oklahoma State University, the first 19 as the Cowboys' pitching coach and recruiting coordinator, then as the Cowboys' head coach from 1997-2003. 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.

"Tom will be missed by our entire program," Longhorns coach Augie Garrido said. "We are thankful for all of his hard work and devotion to our entire team over the past three seasons at the University of Texas. As the associate head coach and recruiting coordinator at NC State he has the opportunity to act on the leadership skills that he has developed from his vast experiences at Oklahoma State and UT. We wish him all the best as he joins a close personal friend in Coach Avent and accepts the challenges in helping the Wolfpack reach the College World Series on a consistent basis."

Widely regarded as a top-flight recruiter, Holliday was instrumental in signing and working with numerous Oklahoma State players who went on to major league careers, including Robin Ventura, Jeromy Burnitz, Pete Incaviglia, Mickey Tettleton, Doug Dascenzo, Scott Williamson and Mike Henneman. At Texas, he worked closely with current major leaguers J.P. Howell and 2005 American League Rookie of the Year Huston Street. Holliday will be responsible for the recruiting program at NC State.

Holliday played two seasons at Yavapai (Ariz.) College, then spent two seasons, 1974 and 1975, at the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Fla. A catcher and first baseman, he played in the College World Series with the Hurricanes in 1974, their first-ever trip to Omaha. In all, Holliday has played or coached with 15 teams that participated in the College World Series.

A native of Uniontown, Pa., Holliday and his wife Kathy, have two sons, Josh and Matt. Josh is a former Wolfpack assistant coach and is currently an assistant coach at Georgia Tech. Matt is the starting left fielder for the Colorado Rockies, and was recently named to his first Major League All-Star team. Both sons are married and each has one child.

Wolfpack head coach Elliott Avent is excited by the addition of Holliday to his coaching staff.

"I've known the Holliday family for many years, and they will make a great addition to the Wolfpack family," Avent said. "Tom is a great coach, he has been a good friend, and he and Kathy have done a fabulous job in raising two outstanding sons. This is a real coup for NC State University."

Holliday, too, is excited about the prospects of working with the Wolfpack baseball program.

"Elliott has a quality program, and I'm proud to be part of his staff," Holliday said. "Our goal is to get the Wolfpack as a regular participant in the College World Series."