After spending 11 seasons as an assistant on the Iowa State baseball team, Lyle Smith is now the Cyclones’ new head coach.

The announcement was made Monday morning by athletic director Gene Smith in a press conference at the Olsen Building. Coach Smith will succeed former Cyclone skipper Bobby Randall, who resigned in September to become head baseball coach at Kansas.

“I am excited about the potential for the Iowa State baseball program to continue the progress that we’ve made in the past and allowing the student-athletes that we have to receive an excellent academic and athletic experience,” the new head coach said as family, friends and a handful of ISU baseball players looked on.

Smith was head coach at Indian Hills Community College in Centerville before joining Randall’s staff in 1984. At Indian Hills, Smith compiled a three-year record of 88-47. He was also a graduate assistant coach under former Cyclone head coach Larry Corrigan in 1981. As an assistant coach, Smith’s focus was centered on the pitching staff and recruiting efforts.

Four of his ISU pitchers were all-Big Eight selections in 1994 and in 1992 Smith’s staff led the conference with a 4.14 earned run average in overall games, which was the lowest in school history.

“When you compare him to all the other candidates, he had all the qualities that we were looking for,” Gene Smith said.

Lyle Smith will receive a five-year contract that is currently being developed and his salary will be somewhere around $51,000 a year, Gene Smith said.

The new head coach said he didn’t approach the interview process with the attitude that the job would be automatically given to him.

“I approached it from the standpoint I was going to win the job. I didn’t want the job if they were just going to hand it to me,” he said. “I wanted to prove that I could lead, coach, direct and that I was sincere in the academic welfare of the students.”

“He didn’t come in here during the interview process with the position that he felt entitled,” Gene Smith said.

Another deciding factor was the response Gene Smith got from the ISU players. Many of them came to his office and backed Lyle Smith for head coach.

“Words can’t express what it feels to be as a coach and know that your players respect you and want you,” Lyle Smith said.

He said he was looking forward to the opportunity of leading ISU into the new Big 12 Conference and he listed some of the challenges the Cyclone baseball program will face in the new league.

“Texas, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas Tech and Texas A&M to name a few,” he said. “The challenge is, since we’re the northernmost school in the conference, to continue to bring in the type of caliber athletes we need to bring in and develop.”