A Coach Lets Go : After a Week on His New Job in Colorado, Joe Harrington Returns to Long Beach for Belongings and Some Goodbys

Near the top of the world because of his new job as basketball coach at the University of Colorado, Joe Harrington made a nostalgic descent this week back to Cal State Long Beach and realized how hard it can be to let go.

“It’s sad coming back. I really liked Long Beach and the people here,” Harrington said Tuesday morning as he gathered his belongings in his former office. “I enjoyed my three years here more than at any place I’ve coached.”

He said that last week, while on his new job, “I got on the phone with a recruit and said, ‘This is Joe Harrington from Long Beach State.’ ”

Behind his old desk, Harrington found a clock, still in its box, that was his award for being a head coach in this year’s National Invitation Tournament.

“I wonder if Seth is going to let me keep it,” he wondered, referring to his successor and former top assistant, Seth Greenberg.

Other than a five-year contract worth more than $1 million, why did Harrington leave after three years and a 53-36 record with the 49ers?

“The biggest thing is that (Colorado) is the state university,” he said, “which means football and basketball coaches are highly visible in the state. It’s amazing how recognizable they make you. In a week and a half I’ve been on TV more times than in all my other jobs combined. They know you are the UC coach.”

Already he has done his first Joe Harrington Show for a Denver TV station.

Harrington felt he might have coached his last game for Cal State Long Beach right after the 49ers lost to Hawaii last month in the National Invitation Tournament.

In the bar of a Honolulu hotel later that night, Harrington, who had also been sought by the University of Miami (Fla.), talked of the importance of financial security. “I’m not going to be coaching forever,” he had said.

As it turned out, there were other considerations that swayed the 44-year-old Harrington as much as money, things he will now have that he did not have at Long Beach.

“Colorado has an on-campus facility and a student population of 25,000, who either live on campus or in the town (Boulder),” said Harrington, who is leaving a university that has only a 2,000-seat gym and a small percentage of its more than 30,000 students living on campus.

At 9 Tuesday morning, Martha Fronke, the 49ers basketball secretary, arrived for work and greeted Harrington.

He hugged her, then said, “The hardest thing about leaving is the players and the people you work with. I’m so proud of what’s transpired here. I wouldn’t be at Colorado if it weren’t for guys like Morlon Wiley, John Hatten and Tyrone Mitchell. Those guys busted their butts for me. I’ve grown to appreciate and love what players do for coaches.”

Harrington has found at Colorado a situation similar to the one he encountered upon arriving at Long Beach: a nucleus of promising players but a tradition of losing.

“(Colorado) hasn’t won an away game in the conference in 52 games, and they’ve been in the cellar five straight years,” he said.

The University of Colorado, which had a 12-18 record last season, plays in the Big Eight Conference.

An average crowd of only 3,700 watched the Buffaloes in their 11,000-seat arena last season. But, unlike at Long Beach, there are a lot of seats to fill.

“There’s only one limitation at Long Beach State, and that’s (the lack of) a (campus) arena,” said Harrington, who hated the sight of the 49ers’ gym. “That’s the one thing I won’t miss about Long Beach, all those lines on the court.”

It does appear, Harrington allowed, that he is on top of the world. “But in reality, I think I’m going to have to work harder than I have at any place I’ve been,” he said.

Colorado’s tentative schedule for next season includes games at North Carolina, Wake Forest, Wyoming and the Connecticut tournament.

“And that’s besides playing Oklahoma, Kansas and Missouri twice,” he said. “You think that’s not a step up?

“And there’s a whole lot more pressure. It’s a big, big difference. The pressure here was self-induced. There wasn’t pressure from the fans and alumni here like there will be there.”

He said the Cal State Long Beach program should prosper under Greenberg.

“I’m happy for Seth,” Harrington said. “I can’t think of many young coaches who inherited a team like the one he will have. That’s a darned good basketball team coming back here. We’ve turned it around here. We’ve got ourselves in position to keep winning here.”

He had said “we” when he meant “they.” But that habit will be hard to break for a while.

As Harrington walked across the campus to a snack bar for coffee, people called out farewells. His eyes glinted in the morning sun. He could have been wondering how far golf balls travel in that Rocky Mountain air, and thinking of a way to turn some heads in the Big Eight.

“We’re going to have silver home uniforms,” Harrington said. “We had California gold here, we’ll have Colorado silver there.”

When he returned to the basketball building, he shook hands with Greenberg, who said Harrington could keep the NIT clock.

Greenberg was hard at work, so Harrington looked for a place to make some telephone calls.

“You can use my old office,” Greenberg said. They both laughed.

“Isn’t life great,” Harrington said, able to let go after all.