Legendary former Texas baseball coach Augie Garrido passes away

Early on Thursday morning, legendary former Texas Longhorns baseball coach Augie Garrido passed away at the age of 79. Garrido was recently hospitalized after suffering a stroke.

“This is a very, very sad day,” athletics director Chris Del Conte said in a release. “We lost one of the greatest coaches of all time, a truly special Longhorn Legend and college athletics icon. There will never be another Augie Garrido. He was a once-in-a-lifetime personality whose impact on Texas Athletics, collegiate baseball and the student-athletes he coached extended far beyond the playing field. If you were fortunate enough to have spent time with Augie, or if you followed him in any way, he had a great effect on you with his brilliant combination of wisdom, wit, and charm. He was just an incredible coach, molder of men and a great person. He will be missed, but the memories of him and his awesome accomplishments will carry on forever. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his wife, Jeannie, and his family.”

Garrido’s remarkable coaching career ended in 2016 after 48 years, leaving the college game as its all-time winningest coach and five-time national champion. Two of those national championships (2002 and 2005) came during the 20 years that he helmed the Longhorns. On eight occasions, he took Texas to Omaha and the College World Series, in addition to seven conference championships and five conference tournament victories.

Known for his small-ball approach, Garrido demanded that even his best players sacrifice for the good of the team. He was one of the game’s best teachers and developers of talent and a colorful personality who even hosted a cooking show on the Longhorn Network.

His accomplishments were extraordinary and historically unique — the release from the school lists them all — but Garrido was ultimately bigger than the game itself and the school where he finished his long coaching career. Putting into words what he meant for college baseball and Longhorns baseball in particular only two years after he left the game seems like too large of a task today.

My late grandfather once said, “The loss of a good man diminishes us all.”

Augie Garrido was a good man, and the Longhorn and college baseball communities are diminished by his passing. Rest in peace, coach.