June 25, 2003
Stillwater, Okla. - Frank Anderson, an assistant coach at the University of Texas for the past four years, was named Oklahoma State's 14th head baseball coach by athletic director Harry Birdwell today.
The recommendation will be sent to University President Dr. David Schmidly and the OSU Board of Regents for formal approval.
Anderson was the pitching coach at Texas from 2000-03, and was a key force behind the Longhorns run to the national title in 2002. Known as one of the top pitching coaches in the country, Anderson developed a pitching staff that helped lead UT to three College World Series appearances in his time in Austin.
His staffs at Texas led the conference in team ERA in each of his four seasons and finished in the top 5 in the nation three times. In 2003, Anderson's staff compiled a 3.50 ERA, which was in the top 15 in the NCAA. The UT staff recorded sparkling team ERAs of 2.82 in 2002, 3.17 in 2001 and 3.30 in 2000 and also posted the program?s best team ERA since 1983 (2.72) and the second-lowest ERA nationally during the 2002 campaign.
Prior to his run at Texas, Anderson spent nine seasons (1990-99) as an assistant coach at Texas Tech under Larry Hays. During his tenure in Lubbock, the Red Raiders not only won 71.3 percent of their games, but also averaged 43 wins each season and earned five consecutive NCAA Regional berths from 1995-1999. In addition, besides helping lead Texas Tech to the Big 12 Championship in 1997 as well as the conference tournament title in 1998, Anderson also helped guide the Red Raiders to their first-ever Southwest Conference (SWC) crown and the school?s first NCAA appearance in 1995 behind a school-record 51-14 mark. Of note, Anderson?s hurlers have now combined to form the top pitching staff in either the SWC or the Big 12 in eight of the last 10 seasons.
A 20-year coaching veteran, Anderson has fostered the careers of four first-team consensus All-Americans (Justin Simmons, Charlie Thames, Ryan Nye and Jason Gooding), three Academic All-Americans, 29 All-Conference pitchers (21 in the Big 12 and eight in the SWC), and 28 professional players. He has also had 16 pitchers drafted by Major League Baseball off of his last five staffs, including four in 2003.
A native of Grant, Neb., Anderson graduated from Emporia State in Kansas in 1983 and received his master?s degree in 1985 from the same school. Prior to attending his alma mater, Anderson was a junior college All-American at Mid-Plains Junior College in North Platte, Neb., and then an All-District and All-Area outfielder/shortstop at Kearney State, an NAIA baseball powerhouse located in Nebraska.
Upon completing his bachelor?s degree in physical education, Anderson began his coaching career at Emporia State, while working on his master?s in science with an emphasis in exercise physiology, and helped the Hornets reach the 1984 NAIA World Series. He then accepted the assistant coaching position at Howard Junior College in Big Spring, Texas, in 1987. Once there, Anderson became an integral part of constructing one of the nation?s top junior college programs through his work with pitchers and in recruiting. Over his three seasons, the Hawks not only ranked among the top 20 junior colleges in the country, but also had 26 of Anderson?s pupils drafted by major league clubs.
In 1991, Howard claimed the Junior College World Series title with a team primarily recruited by its former assistant coach, who had left at the beginning of that season to join Larry Hays' staff at Texas Tech as the club?s pitching instructor.
Frank and his wife Sandra have two children: a son Brett, and a daughter Katelyn.
THE ANDERSON FILE
Full Name: Frank Anderson
Date of Birth: February 14, 1959
Hometown: Grant, Nebraska
High School: Perkins County High School
College: Emporia State University '83
Graduate Degree: Emporia State University '85
Coaching Background
Assistant Coach: University of Texas, 2000-03
Assistant Coach: Texas Tech, 1990-99
Assisant Coach: Howard Junior College, 1987-89
Assistant Coach: Emporia State, 1984-86