Joshua S. Holliday is an Americancollege baseballcoach and former professional player in Minor League Baseball. Currently the head coach of the Oklahoma State Cowboys baseball team, he was hired to this position prior to the 2013 season. In 2014, Holliday was the Big 12 Conference Baseball Coach of the Year as OSU claimed the conference regular season championship. Holliday's Cowboys pulled OSU a little Cowboy baseball tradition out of the fire and faced Oklahoma on the final weekend of 2017. The team was in danger of missing out of the postseason for the 1st time in Holliday's tenure at Oklahoma State. The Cowboys swept the instate rival Oklahoma Sooners to claim the last and final spot as the 8th seed in the BigXII Championship. The Cowboys went back to their tradition and won just the 2nd Big 12 tournament in schools rich baseball history. The Cowboys won 16 straight Big 8 tournaments before the formation of the Big12. The Cowboys became the 1st eight seed to win the conference championship and by doing so Holliday got his team in the NCAA postseason for the 5th time in his 5 years at the school. The season was full of injuries from top to bottom. Holliday and his associated Head Coach and current assistant coach of the year Rob Walton put together a pitching staff that was nothing short of magical. The Cowboys luck would run out as they were sent to the Arkansas Regional and went 0-2 losing game one to Regional champions Missouri State Bears on a two out bottom of the 9th walk off HR. Garrett Benge hit for the cycle for Holliday's Cowboys but it wasn't enough. Garrett McCain would be named 1st team all-American, the 25th in Cowboys history. He would one of five current Cowboys drafted in 2017, preceded by 11 from the 2016 College World Series club, giving Holliday 16 in 2 years. The Cowboys went on an end of the year run that had seen them lose six games in a row and face being the first Oklahoma State team to finish under.500 in 40 years. The Cowboys finished 30–27 on the year. A 6–5 victory over the Texas Longhorns would be Holliday's 200th victory as the head coach of Oklahoma State. Before becoming head coach of the Cowboys, Holliday played college baseball for OSU while attending as a student. He was drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays in 1999, for whom he played two seasons in the minor leagues. He then returned to his alma mater as an assistant coach and subsequently coached as an assistant for NC State, Georgia Tech, Arizona State and Vanderbilt.
College playing career
The Minnesota Twins drafted Holliday in the 14th round after high school in 1995, but he did not sign. He instead attended Oklahoma State University and played college baseball there for the Cowboys. He earned four varsity letters at OSU while playing in 256 games, second all-time with the Cowboys. He ranks highly in many statistical categories among Cowboy greats, placing seventh in home runs with 53, first in walks with 225, and in the top five in runs, hits, doubles, total bases, runs batted in, and hit by pitches.
After his college career, Holliday was drafted for a second time. The Toronto Blue Jays selected him in the ninth round of the 1999 amateur draft. He played for two seasons in Minor League Baseball in the Toronto organization. A versatile player, he frequently played first base and catcher, and also appeared at third base, right field and left field. In 1999 with the Class A short-season St. Catharines Stompers, Holliday produced a.902 on-base plus slugging in 71 games. He batted.255, but managed to score 50 runs due in part to drawing 63 walks for a.439 on-base percentage. He also hit 13 doubles and 10 home runs for a.463 slugging percentage. The next season with the Class A Hagerstown Suns, his batting average slipped to.220 in 74 games, but his 52 BB placed his OBP at.381 and he scored 46 runs. His OBP in those two season was.410 in spite of a combined.237 batting average.
Coaching career (2001–present)
Prior to the 2001 season, Holliday returned to Stillwater to become a student assistant coach under his father, head coach Tom Holliday. He became a full-time staff member the following season and served for two years. Holliday spent the 2004 season at NC State, who made an NCAA Tournament appearance. Following his single season in Raleigh, Holliday was hired as an assistant at ACC rival Georgia Tech, who reached the 2006 College World Series, won the 2005 ACC Tournament, and were among the nation's elite in several offensive categories. Holliday was named to the staff of Arizona State beginning in 2008. During his tenure, the Sun Devils signed the nation's top recruiting class and appeared in the 2009 College World Series. For his efforts, Vanderbilt named him recruiting coordinator and assistant coach in 2010. The Commodores made a run to the College World Series with Holliday on the staff. It was the program's first College World Series appearance. As recruiting coordinator at Vanderbilt, Holliday helped assemble a roster that would set a SEC record for regular season conference wins with a 26–3 record in 2013, his first year as head coach in Stillwater. On June 8, 2012, Holliday was named head coach of the Oklahoma State Cowboys, returning to his childhood home to lead the program for which he played. He is the first head coach at OSU who also played for the Cowboys.
Head coaching records
Below is a table of Holliday's yearly records as an NCAA head baseball coach.
Family
Josh's father was an assistant coach at Oklahoma State while Josh grew up and while he played at Oklahoma State. The elder Holliday later served as head coach while Josh was an assistant. Josh's brother, Matt Holliday is a Major League Baseball outfielder/designated hitter and All-Star who is currently a free agent and has previously played for the New York Yankees, St. Louis Cardinals, the Colorado Rockies, and the Oakland Athletics. Josh is married with two children.
