Forget the Kobe versus MJ comparisons. The lucky few who enjoyed this year’s College World Series have a much more apt discussion to consider.
Is Augie Garrido the best coach in the history of college baseball?
This question has only one answer, and that is an emphatic, unequivocal, definitive “Yes.”
The man has more wins than any coach in NCAA history to compliment his five national championships and was the first coach to win one with two separate programs. He has the praise of the entire baseball world and an incredible track record in Austin.
Wednesday night, in a display of guts trumped by talent, the Longhorns fell to an experienced and powerful LSU team.
So what does that mean for the legacy of Texas baseball and, by extension, Garrido?
First of all, it is a return to form. While hardly a celebrated statistic, Texas now holds the record for most CWS second-place finishes with six.
Second, this run displays a side of Garrido that is seen less but is equally important to his philosophy: the art, not science, of coaching. As a scholar of the game for the past 30 years, Garrido knows the ins and outs of baseball.
He calmed them when emotions were high, like before the Horns’ ninth-inning comeback against Arizona State. He built them back up, as he did in Tuesday’s Game 2 win after a devastating loss on Monday.
As a fan remarked at the Longhorns’ return to UFCU Disch-Falk Field on Thursday afternoon, Garrido approaches the game with a Zen-like attitude that is an equal mix of baseball and enlightenment. His best qualities are, just like 2009’s team of fate, intangible.
Garrido is less guarded than Rick Barnes or Mack Brown, and because of his seniority, he seems to be given a larger degree of autonomy when dealing with the public and the media. We know him better. We laugh with him, we celebrate with him and we were crushed to see his emotional response to the CWS loss.
The only condolence is that we know he’ll be back. The best coaches always find a way.
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