Rob Walton Announces He Will Retire After the 2025 Season Concludes

STILLWATER – This has been somewhat of an up and down baseball season at Oklahoma State, but one thing that has gone really well down the stretch has been the pitching, especially the starting rotation in winning 9-of-the-last-10 games of the regular season. Walton announced on Monday, May 19 that he would finish out the post season as the Cowboys are the No. 7 seed in the upcoming Big 12 Baseball Tournament at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas. They will open with Baylor at 4 p.m. on Wednesday. That will start the final leg of Walton’s long college coaching career. 

"We still have games to play this season and we're going to finish the right way," Walton said in an Oklahoma State release. "The game has given me so much, and I'll be forever grateful for the people and the experiences that it has brought into my life."

That means Josh Holliday will have a big chore ahead of him to start the offseason or he may be well into the process now of selecting and hiring just the second pitching coach in his time as head coach.

Oklahoma State University Athletics

Walton on a mound visit at Oklahoma State.

"Rob and I have been side by side since day one," OSU head coach Josh Holliday said. "What an amazing ride it has been the past 13 seasons working together at our alma mater with the players and staff to put Cowboy Baseball back among the very best. Rob's passion for Oklahoma State - both as a hall of fame player in the 1980s and his contributions as a coach the past 13 years - make him one of the most significant figures in our rich baseball history."

In what was then labeled a unique situation 13-years-ago when Josh Holliday was named the new head coach at his alma mater, Holliday at the suggestion of then athletics director Mike Holder hired veteran Oral Roberts head coach Rob Walton to be his pitching coach. The salaries for the two were very close and suggested a dual coaching scenario where Holliday coached defense and offense and Walton was head coach for pitchers. If it truly was that way, Walton never acted that way defering all head coaching duties and credit (and blame) to Holliday. 

The two, Holliday and Walton, have seemingly got along well. It’s college athletics and coaching, so you know there was tension at times. Honestly, when it first happened in the summer of 2012, many people were surprised that Walton did it. He had been interviewed for the job and after hiring Holliday, it was Holder, who thought bringing Walton in would kind of double up the chances of getting the baseball situation right.

During those 12 plus seasons, Oklahoma State has won five Big 12 Championships, been selected for each NCAA Tournament except for the one cancelled by COVID, they have been to three Super Regionals, and one College World Series. Walton had the chance to fulfill a dad’s dream in coaching his son Donnie during his standout career at Oklahoma State. Walton is now an infielder in the New York Mets organization after playing in the Seattle Mariners organization including spending time with the Mariners and then also in the San Francisco Giants organization including playing with the Giants. 

Oklahoma State University Athletics

Walton in his playing days. He was very reliable.

The elder Walton was quite the player himself as he came from New Jersey to pitch for the Cowboys. He was recruited by Josh Holliday’s father, then Oklahoma State pitching coach Tom Holliday. Walton went 20-3 in 54 college appearances and helped the Cowboys to College World Series trips in each of his four seasons.

Walton went on and played in the Baltimore Orioles organziation and then worked with the Cleveland Indians before returning to Oklahoma and the college ranks as an assistant at ORU. After five seasons as an assistant at ORU, he was named the Golden Eagles head coach. He led the ORU to the NCAA Tournament in each of his nine years at the helm of the program and was a five-time selection as Summit League Coach of the Year. During his time at ORU, he coached 16 All-Americans, 14 conference players of the year and 12 conference pitchers of the year. He coached ORU to the first NCAA Super Regional in program history in 2006.

Walton was selected as head coach of Team USA in 2008 and was chosen as a Team USA assistant in 2005 and 2011. His 2008 Team USA squad delivered the gold medal at the World University Baseball Championship.

Walton retires as one of the most successful pitching coaches in college baseball. He has really invested himself and helped make a lot of young pitchers much better.

Like any longtime college or professional coach he has had his critics, but Walton has outlasted virtually all of them.