The baseball world lost a coaching legend on Thursday. Augie Garrido, a five-time College World Series champion with Cal State Fullerton and Texas, died early Thursday morning at age 79.
Garrido was the winningest baseball coach in NCAA history, with 1,975 wins over a college head coaching career that spanned 48 years across six decades -- he began coaching at San Francisco State in 1969, and he finished his career in 2016. He was a six-time National Coach of the Year.
"This is a very, very sad day," Texas vice president and athletics director Chris Del Conte said on Thursday. "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."
Garrido coached 21 seasons at Cal State Fullerton, where he won three national championships, and he spent his final 20 seasons coaching Texas, where he won two more. He was the first NCAA baseball coach to lead multiple schools to a national title and is one of three coaches to have won five NCAA titles. Garrido's College World Series wins came in 1979, '84, '95, 2002 and '05.
Notable Major Leaguers who played under Augie Garrido:
RHP Huston Street (Texas)
OF Robert Stubbs (Texas)
LHP J.P. Howell (Texas)
1B Brandon Belt (Texas)
RHP Corey Knebel (Texas)
RHP Mike Krukow (Cal Poly)
3B Tim Wallach (Cal State Fullerton)
OF Mark Kotsay (Cal State Fullerton)
3B Phil Nevin (Cal State Fullerton)
OF Aaron Rowand (Cal State Fullerton)

Garrido had recently been hospitalized after a stroke. The University of Texas confirmed his passing on Thursday.
"Augie was a giant in our game," said Texas head coach David Pierce, who took over the program after Garrido stepped down following the 2016 season. "His impact on baseball, on the Forty Acres and on me and so many others will live on forever. My thoughts are with Jeannie, his friends, his family and all those who were lucky enough to have met him, played for him or learned from him. His presence will be sorely missed, but his legacy will never be forgotten."
In his career, Garrido coached three Golden Spikes Award winners (given annually to the best amateur baseball player in the U.S.), four National Players of the Year, six College World Series Most Valuable Players and 53 All-Americans; 143 of his players have had professional baseball careers, and 15 were first-round MLB Draft picks.
Garrido also played baseball at Fresno State from 1959-61, and his No. 1 is retired. He went on to sign with the Indians and play six Minor League seasons before retiring to become a coach.