Cochell Leaving Titans to Go Back to Oklahoma

The allure of Oklahoma proved too strong for Larry Cochell, who resigned Tuesday as Cal State Fullerton’s baseball coach to take the coaching job at the University of Oklahoma.

Cochell, who guided the Titans to two College World Series appearances in three seasons, spent 10 years, from 1977-86, at Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Okla.

Cochell, 49, was raised in Oregon, went to college in Arizona and has coached in four other states, but he apparently felt most comfortable in Oklahoma.

“Everyone knows I left a good job, but it was as much a family decision as it was a career decision,” Cochell said at a press conference in Norman, Okla. “When my boys (sons Craig, 18, and Chad, 14) talked about home, they always meant Oklahoma. I like the people here.”

Cochell said he was contacted by Oklahoma Athletic Director Donnie Duncan about the position several weeks ago, but few in the Titan baseball program knew he was involved in serious negotiations with Sooner officials.

Fullerton assistant coach Fred Hoover said he heard rumors that Cochell was a candidate, but didn’t know Cochell had even been offered the job until Tuesday morning, when the coach phoned him from Oklahoma.

Hoover said Titan pitching coach Vern Ruhle and former Oral Roberts assistant Pat Harrison, now coaches at The Master’s School in Saugus, would join Cochell on Oklahoma’s staff.

“I’m not shocked, because I think he’s had a longing to go back into that particular environment,” Hoover said. “Larry told me he did a lot of soul-searching and decided this job was too (good) to turn down. I’m sure they gave him a good financial package.”

Terms of Cochell’s contract were not disclosed. At Fullerton, Cochell’s base salary of $63,000 was supplemented by income from summer baseball camps and a shoe contract.

“We couldn’t match what they were offering,” said Steve DiTolla, Fullerton associate athletic director who oversees baseball. “Larry indicated that it was too good an offer to turn down.

“He had nothing but good things to say about our program, and I don’t think there was anything that drove him out of here. But I would assume Oklahoma has more resources to work with than we have here.”

DiTolla said the Fullerton job “is wide open at this point.” The school will form a selection committee and conduct a national search for a successor, DiTolla said. He hopes they can fill the position within a month or two.

“We definitely want someone by the fall,” DiTolla said.

Could that someone be Augie Garrido, who built the Titan program into a national power and won two College World Series before taking the Illinois job in 1987? Garrido’s three-year contract with Illinois expires in August and he has not yet negotiated a new one.

DiTolla wouldn’t speculate on possible candidates, but Garrido, who is in Austin, Tex., as a coach with Team USA, didn’t rule himself out.

“I don’t see myself as a candidate, but if Fullerton does, I’m sure they’ll get in touch with me,” Garrido said. “And if they get in touch, we’ll talk. I’d like to leave it there for now.”

Hoover, who coached at Golden West College for 22 years before becoming a Titan assistant in 1989, said he is interested in the job, as did George Horton, the Cerritos College coach who was a finalist for the Fullerton job in 1987.

Horton, who has led Cerritos to three state community college titles in the past five years, withdrew from the running in 1987 because of the fund-raising requirements that come with the job.

“With their operating budget, you needed to raise about $85,000 every year to make it happen, and that was scary,” Horton said. “I’m a baseball guy, and I like to spend my time with athletes and students. I’m not dying to leave Cerritos, but this is something I’d still be interested in. I’ll probably apply.”

Other likely local candidates are Loyola Marymount Coach Chris Smith, who was an assistant at Fullerton in 1983 and ‘84, Cal State Northridge Coach Bill Kernan, a former Titan and Illinois assistant who took Northridge to the Division II national championship game this past season, and Rancho Santiago College Coach Don Sneddon.

Also interested in the job is Dennis Rogers, coach at Riverside City College who was a Fullerton assistant in 1988.

Cal State Long Beach Coach Dave Snow, a former Fullerton assistant who turned down the Fullerton job in 1987, said he wouldn’t be interested in the job.

“I’d listen to what they have to say, but I’m pretty strongly committed here,” Snow said. “It’s hard to say nationally who might be interested, but I wouldn’t be surprised if there were strong candidates from other parts of the country.”

Cochell, who has a career coaching record of 791-450-2 in 24 years, went 109-68 in his three seasons at Fullerton.

He took the Titans to the 1988 Series, where they finished third, and the 1990 Series, where they lost their only two games.

Fullerton wasn’t expected to challenge for the 1990 Big West championship, but the team got hot midway through the season, winning the conference and NCAA Central Regional titles and advancing to the Series in Omaha, Neb.

“He’s a good leader, a good head coach, and he has been a winner everywhere he has gone,” Titan third baseman Phil Nevin said from Austin, where he is playing for Team USA. “We’ll have to see how much he meant to the program after next season.”

Nevin said the news of Cochell’s departure was a shock. “I figured if he left, he’d at least give some of his players a call to talk about it,” Nevin said. The loss of Ruhle, a former major league pitcher who spent one season with the Titans, was equally disturbing for Nevin.

“That’ll be a bigger loss, because he’s the guy who has been drawing all the pitchers in,” Nevin said. “And he did a great job with our pitching staff this season.”

Expectations will be high for Cochell at Oklahoma, where he replaces interim coach Stan Meek. Meek took over as Sooner coach in January when Enos Semore, who had an 851-379 record in 22 seasons as Oklahoma’s coach, stepped down because of health reasons.

Oklahoma made 14 NCAA playoff and five Series appearances under Semore, but it is Oklahoma State that has dominated the Big Eight lately, winning 10 consecutive conference titles and advancing to the Series eight times in the last 10 years.

“I’ve said I want the baseball program to be what football is in the fall and what basketball is in the winter,” said Duncan, the Oklahoma athletic director. “You will learn that Larry is an outstanding coach in many ways and will do an outstanding job.”

Cochell, who wasn’t Duncan’s first choice for the job, will remain at Fullerton until early August to conduct his baseball clinics. Wichita State Coach Gene Stephenson had been offered the position in mid-June but turned it down.

LARRY COCHELL’S COACHING RECORD

Year School W-L 1967 Emporia State 16-18 1968 Emporia State 25-14 1969 Emporia State 29-13 1970 Creighton 25-7 1971 Creighton 24-21 1972 Cal State Los Angeles 23-26 1973 Cal State Los Angeles 31-18 1974 Cal State Los Angeles 35-18 1975 Cal State Los Angeles 12-30 1976 Cal State Los Angeles 16-33 1977 Oral Roberts 35-17 1978 Oral Roberts 45-12 1979 Oral Roberts 34-24 1980 Oral Roberts 38-16 1981 Oral Roberts 45-10 1982 Oral Roberts 49-13 1983 Oral Roberts 51-17 1984 Oral Roberts 38-24 1985 Oral Roberts 50-19 1986 Oral Roberts 43-20 1987 Northwestern 23-20 1988 Cal State Fullerton 43-18 1989 Cal State Fullerton 30-27 1990 Cal State Fullerton 36-23 Totals 791-450