Garrido Leaves Fullerton for Texas

Augie Garrido, who built Cal State Fullerton into a college baseball power with three national championships in 21 seasons, resigned Wednesday to become coach at the University of Texas.

Garrido said there were few jobs that could have lured him away, but that at Texas was one of them.

“They’re ready to continue moving forward with [improving] their facilities, and they’re moving into the new Big 12 Conference,” he said.

“I think that really will be challenging. The opportunity and the challenge at Texas are a big part of it.”

So is the money. Garrido said he will sign a multiyear contract, expected to pay about $200,000 a year, including fringe benefits. Garrido’s annual base salary at Fullerton was slightly less than $100,000, but that did not include endorsements and his summer baseball camp.

Garrido will replace Cliff Gustafson, who announced his retirement a month ago after 29 years at Texas.

Garrido, 58, who left Fullerton in 1987 to take a job at Illinois, returning to the Titans in 1990, ranks third among active college coaches with 1,152 victories. His Fullerton teams won national championships in 1979, 1984 and 1995, along with 15 conference titles.

Garrido and former USC coach Rod Dedeaux are the only coaches to win national championships in three decades.

Fullerton has reached the College World Series in Omaha three times in the past five years.

Garrido’s associate coach, George Horton, said he plans to remain at Fullerton and is expected to be the top candidate to replace Garrido. Horton, 41, coached Cerritos College to a 226-53 record in six seasons that included three California community college championships.

A university spokesman said the Fullerton would follow normal hiring procedures, and that the job would be advertised nationally.

“We are sorry to see Augie go, but we wish him well,” Fullerton Athletic Director John Easterbrook said. “He has done a great job of coaching and building a nationally prominent program.”

Gustafson, the winningest coach in Division I college baseball and a longtime friend of Garrido, announced his retirement after questions were raised about finances involving the school’s summer baseball camps. Athletic Director DeLoss Dodds learned that an unauthorized bank account was being maintained in connection with the baseball camps in violation of school policy.

Gustafson, 65, also had come under some criticism in Texas in recent years when the program failed to measure up to past success. Texas won national championships in 1975 and in 1983 and reached the College World Series 17 times under Gustafson.