COLLEGE WORLD SERIES : All Things Considered, Garrido Would Rather Stay Put

Augie Garrido left his job as Cal State Fullerton baseball coach once when he believed the Titan baseball program was stagnating, joining former Fullerton Athletic Director Neale Stoner at Illinois.

Stoner resigned later, and Garrido returned after three years in Big Ten country with a promise of a new commitment to baseball at Fullerton.

Would he walk away again, if the right opportunity came along?

Garrido, 56, says he wouldn’t want to do that. He wants to finish his coaching career at the school where his teams have won two national championships and seven regionals, and where he’s established himself as one of college baseball’s most successful coaches.

But there’s always that possibility.

Garrido says he would consider leaving again only if he believed the program had stopped growing.

“Fullerton is where my friends are and where my heart and soul are,” Garrido said. “It’s where I want to be. It’s more than a job to me. It’s everything I’m trying to do and be.

“But I have to deal with realities too. I’m at the point where I have to start thinking about securing my future. If I felt I had to make a move, it always would be a second choice [to staying at Fullerton].”

For all of Fullerton’s baseball success under Garrido, the Titans still have a facility that pales in comparison with ones such as Alex Box Stadium at Louisiana State, where the Titans won the NCAA South Regional tournament last week.

That remains the biggest sore spot for Garrido. And he has concerns about other schools trying to lure away his associate head coach, George Horton. “George and I are a team,” Garrido said.

LSU Coach Skip Bertman has talked to Horton about moving there as his associate. Bertman says he has assurances from Athletic Director Joe Dean that the person he hires will be in position to replace him when he retires, possibility as soon as 1998.

“If George feels he wants to leave for his own reasons, then I want him to do what he feels is best for him and his family,” Garrido said. “But I hope we’ll do everything we can to make his his job at Fullerton as attractive as we can.”

There has been some speculation that Fresno State might, at some point, be interested in bringing Garrido back to his alma mater, the way the school brought back another alumnus, Jerry Tarkanian, to coach men’s basketball.

But Garrido wants to put an end to that speculation quickly, at least as far as he’s concerned.

“Fresno State has the coach that they need in Bob Bennett,” Garrido said. “He’s as good as any baseball coach in the country.

“And they have the kind of program where the NCAA is comfortable putting a regional tournament, and Bob is the person who has built that program to that point. I have a lot of respect for what he’s done there. He’s been a role model for me since I knew him as high school coach in Fresno.”

No matter what else, Garrido said he’s committed to being at Fullerton at least one more season.

“I’ve made a two-year commitment to these players,” Garrido said.

That sounds an awfully lot like a coach thinking about another trip to the College World Series next season.

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All Cal State Fullerton games at the College World Series will be broadcast live on KBPK-FM (90.1). Mel Franks, Titan sports information director, will do the play-to-play.