Augie Garrido

To say Cal State Fullerton baseball players treat their new coach with respect would be an understatement. Reverence would better describe the players' feelings toward Augie Garrido, whose second term as Titan coach begins today when Fullerton plays Cal Poly Pomona at Amerige Park. "He's like the equivalent of Lou Holtz in football," junior outfielder Dave Ayala said. "You hear so much about the guy and he knows so much about the game, you have so much respect for him.

Texas baseball Coach Augie Garrido insisted a misunderstanding -- not poor sportsmanship -- prompted his team's failure to attend a trophy ceremony at the College World Series. After losing the championship to Cal State Fullerton, 3-2, Sunday, the Longhorns did not return to the field to receive their second-place award. "I deeply regret what has happened," Garrido said in a statement released by the university Tuesday.

Augie Garrido is in one of his favorite haunts, behind a batting cage working with one of his players at a midweek practice. D. C. Olsen is on one knee, his right leg stretched stiffly to his side. It seems a strange pose for a first baseman who is 6 feet and 215 pounds. A teammate tosses baseballs softly from a few feet away, and Olsen swings, first with his left arm, then his right, and finally with both hands gripping the bat.

Nothing is getting in the way of the Cal State Fullerton baseball team these days. Not even the return of Augie Garrido. The fifth-ranked Titans took care of all comers at their Kia Bash tournament, capping the three-day, round-robin affair with a 7-1 victory over UCLA Sunday night in front of 2,057 at Fullerton. Fullerton (14-1) is off to its best start since 1996.

Cal State Fullerton will honor departing baseball coach Augie Garrido with a farewell reception open to the public on Friday from 5 to 7 p.m. in the Garden Terrace of The Catch Restaurant in Anaheim. Garrido, who has accepted a position as coach at the University of Illinois, also will be saluted in a ceremony at home plate before the Angel-Toronto Blue Jay game later that evening at Anaheim Stadium.

Much is made of the argument that a college athlete should make his education his first priority and that his allegiance should be to his university, not a coach. But a Division I athlete who embraces that philosophy will almost certainly lose. Even bright, disciplined athletes must put their sport first to win. If they don't excel, they put both their intended careers and their scholarships at risk. The athletes who followed Augie Garrido from Southern California to Illinois can hardly be called victims.

Augie Garrido, who coached Cal State Fullerton to national baseball championships in 1979 and 1984 before going to Illinois in 1987, was named the Titans' coach Tuesday, replacing Larry Cochell, who resigned July 3 to accept the University of Oklahoma job. Garrido, 51, signed a three-year contract that, according to Assistant Athletic Director Steve DiTolla, will pay a base salary of $66,984 a year.

Augie Garrido, former Cal State Fullerton baseball coach, will be roasted in "An Evening with Augie Garrido," Jan. 21 at the Red Lion Inn in Costa Mesa. Garrido, who took over the University of Illinois baseball program last spring, will be roasted by National League all-star third baseman Tim Wallach, a former Titan; Hall of Fame pitcher Lefty Gomez, and 300-game winner Don Sutton. The event is the Fullerton baseball program's annual fund-raising dinner.

Joyously pumping his outstretched arm, his index and small fingers extended, Augie Garrido stood outside the dugout at Omaha's Rosenblatt Stadium last June and faced the crowd. Legions of Texas baseball fans, a sea of burnt orange and white, returned the "Hook 'em Horns" gesture. Finally, college baseball's winningest active coach felt like he belonged -- all it took was winning the College World Series.

One of the more intriguing coaching matchups of the first round of the NCAA regional baseball playoffs Friday will take place at Stanford. Long Beach State (35-21) will meet Texas (34-24), bringing together 49er Coach Dave Snow and Longhorn Coach Augie Garrido for the first time on the field since Garrido left Cal State Fullerton after the 1996 season. Snow played for Garrido at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, then became an assistant coach for him after Garrido moved to Fullerton in 1973.

It was five years ago that he brought Cal State Fullerton to the College World Series and won the national championship, his third with the Titans. Since then, there have been three frustrating seasons on the outside looking in, while the program he took over at Texas struggled. But now, he's back. "People ask me if I'm relieved to be back here," Garrido said. "But it's not that. More than anything, I'm really excited. And I think this gives validity to Texas' decision to hire me."

Not long after after Augie Garrido left Cal State Fullerton to become coach at Texas, he considered having a house built in Austin. "I decided I'd better build a baseball program before I built a house," Garrido said, laughing. "If I didn't do well, I would just buy a bus to live in, paint it stealth-gray, and then move it every night." Well, it looks as though Garrido won't need the bus to hide from Longhorn fans this season.

Augie Garrido looks a little out of place deep in the heart of Billy Bob-twang country, standing in front of the Texas dugout at Disch-Falk Field when they play "The Eyes of Texas Are Upon You." Except for those three years he was away at Illinois, Garrido has nearly always been a Californian, the bon vivant baseball coach who lived in Newport Beach, hung around with his movie star pal Kevin Costner, and led Cal State Fullerton to three College World Series championships in three decades.

Augie Garrido was back at Titan Field Monday for the first day of his summer baseball camp, but it will be only a brief return to Cal State Fullerton before Garrido takes over as coach at Texas. Garrido said he plans to fulfill his commitment to the camp in the next two weeks, then be on the job in Austin when classes start Aug. 28. Texas' program, which hasn't had the kind of success recently that it did in the 1980s under Cliff Gustafson, also appears under the threat of an NCAA penalty.

Larry Cochell, the Northwestern University coach who was unable to reach terms with Cal State Fullerton during an interview trip here last week, Thursday was named Titan baseball coach. He succeeds Augie Garrido, who last month resigned to become head coach at Illinois. Cochell, 47, was widely rumored to be Fullerton's choice for the job and apparently was so close to agreeing that Fullerton officials tentatively planned an announcement last Friday.

Cerritos College baseball Coach George Horton, one of four finalists for the Cal State Fullerton job that Augie Garrido recently accepted, said he will leave Cerritos to become Garrido's top assistant at Fullerton. Horton, who played under Garrido at Fullerton in 1975 and '76, met with Garrido twice last week. He has not officially been offered the job by the school, but Horton said he has been told by Garrido that, "I'm the guy they want."

The financial package that lured Augie Garrido from Cal State Fullerton to Texas will be worth $1.68 million over six years, making it one of the most lucrative college baseball coaching contracts in the nation. Texas Athletic Director DeLoss Dodds made details of the agreement public Friday in Austin. Garrido's base salary will be $115,000 per year, and he'll be assured of an additional $65,000 from the Texas summer baseball camp.

The baseball coach who follows Augie Garrido at Cal State Fullerton will walk in a big shadow. But Oklahoma Coach Larry Cochell, who did it for three years when Garrido left after 1987 season to coach at Illinois, says he still feels good about that experience. "Any time you replace someone who has been that successful, it's a challenge, and you can expect to have some comparisons," Cochell said Thursday. "Augie is Cal State Fullerton baseball. He was then and he is now.