Former Nebraska baseball coach Mike Anderson hired at Northern Colorado | Baseball

Former Nebraska baseball coach Mike Anderson is once again leading a college program.

The nine-year Husker skipper is taking the head job at Northern Colorado according to a report from D1Baseball.com, marking a return to his alma mater. Twelve-year UNC coach Carl Iwasaki announced last month he was stepping down after 12 seasons.

Anderson was a fixture in Lincoln for 17 seasons, arriving to coach hitters and outfielders under John Sanders in 1995 and remaining on staff under new coach Dave Van Horn in 1998. Former Athletic Director Bill Byrne promoted Anderson after Van Horn left for Arkansas following the 2002 season, which ended with Nebraska’s second straight College World Series appearance.

Anderson enjoyed early success, highlighted by the Huskers returning to the CWS in 2005. He earned Big 12 Coach of the Year honors in 2003 and 2005 and made the postseason five times overall. But NU finished either last or second-to-last in conference action from 2009 to 2011. The school replaced him with Darin Erstad as it entered the Big Ten.

Anderson, now 57, has been a high school coach and Oklahoma assistant in recent seasons. He heads to UNC from a job as Colorado scouting director with Prep Baseball Report. Anderson was an outfielder with the Bears from 1983-86.

Northern Colorado — fresh off its first baseball season in the Summit League — was a familiar midweek foe for Nebraska thanks to Anderson’s roots. The schools have played 39 times since 2004, when UNC returned to Division I, and met in 16 of 17 seasons from there. They didn’t match up last spring.