TEXAS BASEBALL HISTORY LONGHORNS COACHING GREATS W.J. (UNCLE BILLY) DISCH CLIFF GUSTAFSON he late William J. (Uncle Billy) Disch, who coached the s Bibb Falk prepared to retire after the 1967 season, Athletic Texas Longhorns for 29 years (1911-39) and served as Director Darrell Royal set out to find a replacement. Tadvisory coach for a dozen more seasons, guided Texas A When Royal placed his first (and only) call, it was to a baseball teams to 513 victories against only 180 defeats. While San Antonio high school coach by the name of Cliff Gustafson. compiling a career .740 winning percentage, Disch coached 20 Royal called him and said “Hello, this is Darrell Royal.” Southwest Conference championship teams. Gustafson thought to himself, “Oh yeah, well this is Roy His outstanding service to The University, as a person and Rogers.” a coach, has endeared him to the memory of his players and Soon after, Gustafson was named to replace his mentor as others closely connected with Longhorns athletics. Honors that Texas Baseball coach. Twenty-nine years later, Coach Gus was have come to him include induction into the Longhorn Hall of the all-time winningest coach in the history of NCAA Division Honor and election to both the Texas Sports Hall of Fame and I baseball. He guided Texas to 22 Southwest Conference the American Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame. (SWC) titles, an NCAA-record 17 College World Series (CWS) While his teams competed in an era when there were no NCAA appearances and two national titles. playoffs, at least six of his teams would have been in strong Along the way he produced countless professional baseball contention had such a prize been awarded. Among his more players and by his count several lawyers, doctors and business famous squads were 1914 (30-5), 1919 (22-3), 1924 (29-1), executives. In fact, he’s just as proud to have produced three 1927 (16-6), 1930 (30-8) and 1939 (18-6). orthopedic surgeons as he is of any of the many professional Writers referred to him as the Connie Mack of college baseball, players who studied under him. an apt sobriquet because he resembled the famous Philadelphia Gustafson played middle infield at Texas in the early 1950s owner-manager both physically and strategically. and earned a varsity letter in 1952 as he posted a career .308 batting average. After a short stint in a semi-pro league, BIBB FALK Gustafson became a junior high basketball coach at South San ISD in south San Antonio. Following the respective firing and he Texas baseball program suffered its biggest loss of the resignation of two coaches, Gustafson found himself being 1989 season when Bibb Falk passed away on June 8 in moved into the high school baseball coach position in 1955. TAustin at the age of 90. Thirteen years later his teams had won 12 district titles Falk, who upon his retirement in 1967 was named to the and seven state crowns. He amassed a 344-85-5 record and College Baseball Coaches Hall of Fame and has also been his 1967 squad was a perfect 39-0. Adding in six consecutive elected to the Longhorn Hall of Honor, won a pair of National wins the year before and Coach Gus completed his high school Championships and 20 Southwest Conference (SWC) titles in coaching career with a 45-game win streak. 25 years at UT. He posted 478 career victories against 176 While at Texas, Gustafson set a then-NCAA record with losses for a .730 winning percentage, and recorded a 278-84 1,427 collegiate wins, passing up Rod Dedeaux’s mark of 1,332 (.768) mark in SWC games. wins (USC) in 1994. Texas also lost only 373 games under He also coached nine consecutive SWC championship teams Gustafson for a .792 winning percentage, which is currently the from 1946-54. During that time, Texas won 111 conference second-highest percentage all-time. Gustafson’s 1,427 wins games while losing only 19. That span included his two CWS currently rank third in Division I baseball history. title clubs in 1949 and 1950. Notably, Falk currently ranks Like his two predecessors, Gustafson is in the American among the top 15 Division I coaches all-time in CWS history for Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame and was inducted appearances (10), games (37), winning percentage (.541) and into the Longhorn Hall of Honor in 1983. victories (20). Gustafson, who was inducted into the Texas Sports Hall of After graduating from UT in 1920 with three baseball letters, Fame in 1994 and received the James Keller Sportsmanship Falk went straight to the Chicago White Sox, where he replaced Award on November 10, 1998, also was selected National the legendary “Shoeless” Joe Jackson in left field. Falk had a Coach of the Year twice (1982 & 1983) and won numerous .314 career batting average in the majors and once hit .352. He SWC Coach of the Year honors as well. also drove in 99 or more runs in three consecutive years and Gustafson credited his success to the foundation that led the American League in pinch hits over the final two years coaches Billy Disch and Bibb Falk laid with their 50-plus years of his career with the Cleveland Indians. of dedication. In a strange twist of fate, back when Gustafson played for Texas he once saw Falk speaking with a man in a wheelchair at a game. The man was William J. Disch. At that moment, the three men who would guide Texas Baseball for more than 80 years were all on the field at the same time. TEXAS BASEBALL TEXAS BASEBALL HISTORY LONGHORNS COACHING GREATS AUGIE GARRIDO uring his 20 years on the Forty Acres, Garrido became 1995, 2002, 2004, 2005) and conference coach of the year the all-time winningest coach in NCAA Division I baseball distinctions eight times (1987, 1995, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2007, Dhistory by capturing his 1,428th career win on June 9, 2010, 2011) after leading his clubs to 25 league crowns. 2003, (a 6-5 Texas victory over then No. 1 Florida State during NCAA Super Regional action in Tallahassee, Fla.), then moved His overall record after 48 years of college coaching, including past Gordon Gillespie as the winningest coach in all divisions a 824-427-2 (.656) mark with UT over 20 seasons, stands at with win number 1,894 on March 25, 2014. 1,975-951-9 (.673), which translates into an average of over 41 victories per season. He brought Texas back to the CWS for the first time since 1993 during the 2000 campaign, and returned the Horns to The Vallejo, Calif., native was named the 13th coach in UT’s the pinnacle of collegiate baseball in 2002 by leading UT to 120-year baseball history, and, with the exception of the war a 57-15 record that produced the school’s first-ever Big 12 years of 1943-45 when Blair Cherry was at the helm, was only regular-season and tournament championships, as well as its the fourth Texas head coach since 1911. first national title since 1983. He duplicated the feat in 2005, guiding the Longhorns to their sixth National Championship, As a result of his unique coaching style, Garrido had been ranked the second-most for one school in NCAA history. Texas’ rise as one of the top three baseball teachers in the nation by Major under Garrido has been the culmination of inking 17 straight top League Baseball Directors of Player Development. To deserve 15 recruiting classes and producing teams that have stood tall that distinction, Garrido coached three Golden Spikes Award against perennial powers such as LSU, Miami (Fla.), Stanford winners, four National Players of the Year, six College World and USC. Garrido was selected as both the 2002 and 2005 Series MVPs, 53 All-Americans, 14 All-League MVPs over his National Coach of the Year. career. He also had 15 of his players selected in the first round of the Major League Baseball Draft, including Longhorns Beau Garrido is the only coach in baseball history to tally 1,900 Hale (No. 14) in 2000, Omar Quintanilla (No. 33) in 2003, both or more career victories. He is also the first coach to lead J.P. Howell (No. 31) and 2005 American League Rookie of the teams from two different schools to national crowns (Cal State Year Huston Street (No. 40) in 2004, the duo of Drew Stubbs Fullerton & Texas), guide squads to National Championships (No. 8) and Kyle McCulloch (No. 29) in 2006, Chance Ruffin in four different decades, and is one of only three coaches in (No. 48) in 2010, Taylor Jungmann (No. 12) in 2011 and Corey history to win five or more NCAA titles (1979, 1984, 1995, Knebel (No. 39) in 2013. In addition, during his 20 years at UT, 2002, 2005). Garrido was one of only four coaches in the Garrido tutored the skills of 27 players who have earned All- modern era of NCAA football, baseball and men’s or women’s America honors a total of 34 times, 25 Freshman All-Americans, basketball to ever lead teams from two different schools to including a school-record four in 2006, 155 All-Conference national crowns (Nick Saban, Rick Pitino and Urban Meyer). performers, 11 USA Baseball National Team members and 102 Additionally, Garrido earned 15 trips to the CWS and 33 NCAA players who have gone on to play in professional baseball. Regional Championship appearances, including 15 at Texas, while garnering National Coach of the Year honors six times Garrido continues to serve the University of Texas to this day, (1975, 1979, 1984, 1995, 2002, 2005), regional coach of as he became the special assistant to the athletic director the year accolades on seven occasions (1975, 1979, 1984, following his coaching career.