Augie Garrido made a bigger impact on college baseball than arguably any coach in history, but his influence was clearly felt across collegiate athletics as a whole.
Garrido died on Thursday after being hospitalized following a stroke suffered over the weekend. The five-time College World Series champion was 79. After news of his passing surfaced, an emotional Texas basketball coach Shaka Smart said he was “heartbroken” and reflected on what he learned from Garrido.
Shaka Smart shares his thoughts on the passing of Augie Garrido pic.twitter.com/L3RkD9uLi8
— Sports Night (@Sports_NightTX) March 15, 2018
Smart has only been the head men’s basketball coach at Texas since 2015, so it says a lot that he was able to build such a strong relationship with Garrido in a relatively short period of time. Mack Brown, one of Garrido’s fellow Texas coaching legends, also paid tribute to Garrido with a statement.
“I loved my dear friend Augie Garrido,” Brown said, via Nick Moyle of the Houston Chronicle. “We had many, many great times together, and he was a person who always had a unique way of looking at everything. He really made you think, made you laugh and always was so much fun to be around. He was truly a special man, one of a kind. He also was obviously the best college baseball coach ever. He will be missed, but his legacy will live on through all those he impacted. Our thoughts, prayers and support are with Jeannie, his family and his friends during this difficult time.”
Between the kind words from Smart and Brown and the many Twitter tributes we have already seen, it goes without saying how important Garrido was for college athletics. Garrido won nearly 2,000 games during his time with Cal State Fullerton and Texas, making him the winningest coach in college baseball history.
