Horton Says He Will Leave Cerritos to Join Garrido’s Staff at Fullerton

FULLERTON — 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.”

Horton has been at Cerritos since 1980 and has been the Falcons’ head coach since 1985. He has guided Cerritos to three community college state championships in the past six years.

“It was a tough decision leaving a very good, prestigious program that had a lot of success,” Horton said. “In simple terms, this is just a change, a new challenge at a different level, a move to a premier Division I program. There aren’t too many coaches I’d consider leaving this job for, but Augie is one of them.”