Garrido Makes It Official, Accepts Illini Baseball Job

Augie Garrido, who led Cal State Fullerton to two national championships in his 15 years as baseball coach, made his departure official Wednesday, accepting the same post at the University of Illinois, and saying his goal is an NCAA championship for the Illini within five years.

The move ends more than a month of speculation as to whether Garrido would leave Fullerton to reunite with Illinois Athletic Director Neale Stoner, who hired him for the Fullerton post in 1973.

“I built a race car and won the race twice,” Garrido said at a Champaign, Ill., news conference. “Now I get to build a new car and start over.”

The announcement set off a flurry of telephone inquiries to the office of Fullerton’s athletic director, Ed Carroll, who several days ago began seeking permission from some athletic directors to speak to their coaches. On Tuesday, Carroll named a five-member search committee headed by associate athletic director Steve DiTolla.

Carroll said he hopes the committee can narrow the field to three or four candidates who would be interviewed the week of Aug. 24. He said that the committee would conduct a national search but that he considers there to be “a number of strong candidates locally.”

“We want someone who can win on the national level, and who knows how to win in Southern California,” Carroll said. “There is no question in my mind that Augie’s replacement is going to be one of the great coaches in America.”

Dave Snow, the Loyola Marymount coach who was an assistant to Garrido when Fullerton won the 1984 NCAA championship, is one of those most frequently mentioned. Snow, who is vacationing in Arkansas, could not be reached for comment.

Another current Division I coach whose name is mentioned is Larry Cochell of Northwestern, formerly the coach at Cal State Los Angeles and Oral Roberts University. Cochell said Wednesday he had not been contacted and had not made a decision to apply.

Although Carroll has expressed some emphasis on Division I experience, one of the coaches with whom he has sought permission to speak is Mike Mayne of Orange Coast College. Mayne, whose son Brent is a Fullerton recruit out of OCC, said he had not spoken with Carroll and does not plan to apply.

“I would not be interested,” Mayne said. “I like it where I am.”

Other prominent local community college coaches with Fullerton connections who have been mentioned are Don Sneddon of Rancho Santiago, a former Titan player and assistant, and George Horton, who in 1975 played on Fullerton’s first team to appear in the College World Series and has coached Cerritos College to two state championships.

Neither Sneddon nor Horton could be reached for comment.

Garrido apparently accepted the Illinois post without unconditional assurances that the school would install the $1.5-million artificial turf field he had sought to cope with Illinois weather. He was, however, given assurances that administration officials shared his belief that it was essential.

Garrido, who will make approximately $70,000 in salary as part of a package worth more than $100,000, was 667-292-6 at Fullerton, and his teams won the NCAA title in 1979 and 1984. His career record is 777-368-7, including a season at San Francisco State and three at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.