Full name: August Edmun Garrido, Jr. Seven trips to the College World Series (CWS) in the last 12 seasons. National Championships in both 2002 and 2005. Second-place finishes in 2004 and 2009. Seven Big 12 Conference Championships (2002, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2010, and 2011) and four league tournament crowns (2002, 2003, 2008 and 2009). These are the results and the reasons why head coach Augie Garrido was hired to guide the Texas baseball program in 1996. During his first 16 years on the Forty Acres, Garrido became the all-time winningest coach in NCAA Division I baseball history by capturing his 1,428th career win on June 9, 2003, (a 6-5 Texas victory over then No. 1 Florida State during NCAA Super Regional action in Tallahassee, Fla.). After he brought Texas back to the CWS for the first time since 1993 during the 2000 campaign, he returned the Horns to the pinnacle of collegiate baseball in 2002 by leading UT to a 57-15 record that produced the school's first-ever Big 12 regular-season and tournament championships as well as its first national title since 1983. He duplicated the feat in 2005, guiding the Longhorns to their sixth National Championship - the second-most for one school in NCAA history. Texas' rise under Garrido has been the culmination of inking 14 straight top 15 recruiting classes and producing teams that have stood tall against perennial powers such as LSU, Miami (Fla.), Stanford and USC. Now, as he enters his 17th year in Austin, Garrido who was selected as both the 2002 and 2005 National Coach of the Year, looks to keep the program in contention for college baseball's ultimate prize each and every season. Garrido is the first coach in Division I baseball history to tally 1,700 or more career victories. He is one of only two Division I coaches to ever win 500 or more games at two different schools and the only coach to ever win 600 or more games at two different schools. He is also the first coach to lead teams from two different schools to national crowns (Cal State Fullerton & Texas), guide squads to National Championships in four different decades, and is one of only three coaches in history to win five or more NCAA titles (1979, 1984, 1995, 2002, 2005). Garrido is the only coach in the modern era of NCAA football, baseball and men's or women's basketball to ever lead teams from two different schools to national crowns - only football legend Pop Warner accomplished such a feat by leading Pittsburgh (1916 & 1918) and Stanford (1926) to National Championships. Additionally, Garrido has earned 14 trips to the CWS and 31 NCAA Regional Championship appearances, including 13 at Texas, while garnering National Coach of the Year honors six times (1975, 1979, 1984, 1995, 2002, 2005), regional coach of the year accolades on seven occasions (1975, 1979, 1984, 1995, 2002, 2004, 2005) and conference coach of the year distinctions eight times (1987, 1995, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2010, 2011) after leading his clubs to 24 league crowns. His overall record after 44 years of college coaching, including a 696-323-2 (.683) mark with UT over the last 16 seasons, currently stands at 1,847-847-9 (.685), which translates into an average of over 41 victories per season. The Vallejo, Calif., native is just the 13th coach in UT's 115-year baseball history, and, with the exception of the war years of 1943-45 when Blair Cherry was at the helm, is only the fourth Texas head coach since 1911. Despite his numerous accolades and honors, Garrido has not reached the peak of collegiate baseball with a "win at all costs" attitude. Instead, he has taken a slightly different approach to coaching the game of baseball. Contrary to the myth that baseball is a game of strictly bats and balls, Garrido firmly believes that it is a thinking man's game. It is his claim that no corked bat or tainted ball has ever been as potent a weapon on the field of play as the mind of a knowledgeable ballplayer. "I want my players to be aware of what is most valuable to them," Garrido said. "Is it a bat, a ball, a glove or the ability to use those things? Is that it? No. It's the players' minds and their ability to use them. That's what makes the use of a bat, a ball and a glove brilliant. It's my job to help players find balance in their lives. I want to help them help themselves become what they want to be through the fundamentals of baseball. Baseball is nothing more than another classroom in the educational process. Really, baseball is a metaphor for life." As a result of his unique coaching style, Garrido has been ranked as one of the top three baseball teachers in the nation by Major League Baseball Directors of Player Development. To deserve that distinction, Garrido has coached three Golden Spikes Award winners, four National Players of the Year, six College World Series MVPs, 52 All-Americans, 14 All-League MVPs and 117 professional players over his career. He has also had 15 of his players selected in the first round of the Major League Baseball Draft, including Longhorns Beau Hale (No. 14) in 2000, Omar Quintanilla (No. 33) in 2003, both J.P. Howell (No. 31) and 2005 American League Rookie of the Year Huston Street (No. 40) in 2004, the duo of Drew Stubbs (No. 8) and Kyle McCulloch (No. 29) in 2006, Chance Ruffin (No. 48) in 2010 and `10-'11 Big 12 Male Athlete of the Year Taylor Jungmann (No. 12). In addition, during his 15 years at UT, Garrido has tutored the skills of 26 players who have earned All-America honors a total of 33 times, 23 Freshman All-Americans, including a school-record four in 2006, 90 All-Conference performers, 10 USA Baseball National Team members and 90 players who have gone on to play in professional baseball. Graduating from Fresno State in 1961, Garrido played three seasons for the Bulldogs and earned all-conference recognition while also taking part in the 1959 College World Series. To salute his efforts at the school, Garrido, who remains, along with his UT predecessor Cliff Gustafson, as one of only 11 men ever to both play and coach in the CWS, was inducted into the Fresno State Hall of Fame in 1993 and was named the recipient of the school's Top Dog Award in 2002 as its Alumnus of the Year in athletics. Upon graduating, Garrido signed a professional contract with the Cleveland Indians and played six years in their minor league system before retiring in 1966 to accept a coaching position at Sierra High School in Tollhouse, Calif. Three years later, Garrido's collegiate coaching career would begin as he accepted the head job at San Francisco State in 1969. The Gators went on to post a 25-14 mark in his very first collegiate season of coaching. The new college head coach would then spend his next three seasons at Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo (1970-72) and tally an 86-62-1* overall record. After his stint with the Mustangs, Garrido took the reigns of the Cal State Fullerton program in 1973, and not only embarked on the first of two highly-successful campaigns with the Titans, but also forever left his mark on the college game. Under his guidance in 1975, Cal State Fullerton celebrated their first season of Division I play by reaching the playoffs and advancing to the CWS. The Titans then won their first of four national titles four years later in 1979, in only their second CWS appearance. Their second NCAA crown followed in 1984 as Garrido's Titans defeated defending national champion Texas by a score of 3-1. During his first tour of duty at Fullerton, he recorded 665-292-6 (.694) mark over 15 seasons. For the 1988 season, Garrido headed north to Illinois, where, in three years, he led the Fighting Illini to two Big 10 titles, including the school's first in 26 seasons. Before departing Champaign, Garrido compiled a record of 111-57 (.661) and twice lead the Fighting Illini to the NCAA Tournament. With the conclusion of Illinois' 1990 campaign, Garrido returned to Fullerton, where, in six years, he guided the Titans to a 264-99 (.727) record and was named the Big West Conference Coach of the Year for the second time in his career (1987 & 1995). During that run, his 1995 Titans club won their final 18 games of the season en route to posting a 57-9 record and capturing Fullerton's third national title. Over his 21-year tenure at Fullerton, Garrido produced a remarkable record of 929-391-6 (.703), while netting seven CWS appearances, one runner-up finish and three national crowns. Garrido's name is also held in high regard when people speak of his accomplishments in the College World Series. He is currently tied for second with five National Championships (trailing only Rod Dedeaux's 10 at USC), ranks fourth and sixth, respectively, in victories (38) and winning percentage (.655; 38-20), as well as fifth in both series games (58) and appearances (14) among all-time coaches. He is also one of only eight men in history to coach two or more different teams in the CWS and is only the third Longhorns head coach (Bibb Falk & Cliff Gustafson) in the 114 years of Texas baseball to lead the Horns to Omaha. He was one of three coaches named to the College World Series Legends Team in 2010. Along with his collegiate baseball coaching career, Garrido, who was selected for induction into both the Texas Sports and Titan Athletics Halls of Fame in 2005, has also served as an assistant coach on Team USA in 1990, took his 1979 National Champion Fullerton team to Taiwan on a Goodwill Tour and has managed in the Alaska Summer League. In the fall of 2008, Garrido was inducted into the Longhorn Hall of Honor. |
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