Former Texas coach Cliff Gustafson to be eulogized at where else: Disch-Falk Field

Story by Kirk Bohls, Austin American-Statesman • Yesterday 4:12 PM

The family of Cliff Gustafson will hold a celebration of the life of the legendary Texas baseball coach next week at UFCU Disch-Falk Field.

The services will be held at 3 p.m. on Jan. 12 at the stadium where Gustafson recorded many of his 1,466 victories as the then-winningest coach in college baseball history. He coached for 29 seasons and won two national championships and 22 Southwest Conference titles.

The funeral will be open to the public — “even Aggies,” his daughters said — and will be followed by a reception at the Cliff Gustafson Pavilion in the right-field stands. Coach Gus, as he was known to Longhorn Nation, will be laid to rest at the Texas State Cemetery in a private family ceremony at a later date, his daughter Jill Gustafson Balderama said.

Bohls: Texas' Cliff Gustafson was beloved on and off the field ... by all

Associate Pastor Ken Baldwin of the Real Life church in Austin will preside over the service. The three Kyle sisters will provide the music. Former Longhorns Keith Moreland and Ty Harrington will eulogize Gustafson and his grandson, Scott Shepperd, will speak on behalf of the family.

University rules do not allow a casket on campus, so the family will choose to display his No. 18 jersey at home plate.

Afterward, Gustafson’s daughter Jann Gustafson Shepperd said, “Yeah, (Texas baseball coach) David Pierce should probably just have a scrimmage on the field. Daddy would like that.”

Following the ceremony super-fan Scott Wilson will lead the crowd in a rendition of “The Eyes of Texas” as Longhorn Nation says goodbye to a legend.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Former Texas coach Cliff Gustafson to be eulogized at where else: Disch-Falk Field

IT WAS CALLED GUSBALL

And Cliff Gustafson Takes Great Pride In That Moniker And The Great Athletes Who Played For Him. As Of 1994, 35 Of His Players Made It To The Majors, Including Boston's Roger Clemens And Houston's Greg Swindell But He Says, " I'm Just As Proud Of Coaching Three Orthopedic Surgeons." For more on Coach Gus click on https://texas-lsn.squarespace.com/new-page-cliff

David J. Clayton comments - A great coach and a very personable person. He would stop and give you his attention. He will be missed

 Barbara Reyes says -Rest In Paradise Gus! My Deepest Condolences To Gus Family!

1975-  59-6 National champs Coach Gus is SWC Coach of the Year.

First-year to play in Disch-Falk Field - Captains are J. Gideon and K. Moreland.

Big Bats and great pitching are a National Championship combination this year.

After 25 years and 14 appearances with no trophy in the NCAA tournament, Texas is National Champion. 

1975 Mark Griffin pinch hits in the college world series and hits a 2 run single to win the game and 3 hits as the designated hitter to beat South Carolina in the championship game.

Larry Smith- When I was a freshman at UT, a large group of freshmen football players were enrolled in Coach Gus’s Baseball Coaching class as an elective. Coach was really a good instructor and had former players as guest speakers from time to time. Rest In Peace, Coach Gus!

1983-  66-14 NATIONAL CHAMPS GUS BALL AT IT’S FINEST

The NCAA tournament field was expanding, and some six-team regionals were staged. Texas had a great pitching staff, including eight players who would pitch in the major leagues, including Roger Clemens and Calvin Schiraldi.

Texas fought its way out of the losers bracket and beat the Bulldogs in the championship game, 12-3, behind the pitching of Clemens and Schiraldi; just a few years later, these two would combine to pitch the Boston Red Sox to professional baseball's World Series.

Will Houston says -  Frank Erwin truly admired him.  

For the rest of the years from 1983-1996, visit the following link.

 https://texas-lsn.squarespace.com/baseball-19831996-cliff-gustafson-copy

Longhorns Legend Roger Clemens Details Late Coach Cliff Gustafson's Recruiting

Story by Connor Zimmerlee • Yesterday 5:19 PM

Roger Clemens spoke fondly of former coach Cliff Gustafson following his passing on Monday.

Longhorns Legend Roger Clemens Details Late Coach Cliff Gustafson's Recruiting© Provided by Longhorns Country on FanNation

On Monday morning the Texas Longhorns lost a legendary coach, as did the college baseball world. 

It was announced that former Longhorns’ coach Cliff Gustafson died on Monday morning from congestive heart failure at the age of 91, leaving behind one of college baseball's best legacies. 

Gustafson led the Longhorns to two national titles in 1975 and 1983, with both rosters loaded with talent. Among those on the 1983 roster was pitcher Roger Clemens, who spoke candidly of Gustafson's recruiting efforts following his death.

”My recruiting trip to Texas, I barely got to his office door," Clemens told reporters on Monday. "He stood up, shook my hand, looked at me and said 'Do you want to be a Longhorn or don’t you?' I was sold."

Amy Kattan remembers Coach Gus - Such a nice nice man. Always a gentleman. Easy to talk to and work with. RIP Sweet Coach Gustafson. Prayers of support and peace to his family and friends.

Cliff Gustafson, legendary former University of Texas baseball coach, dies at 91

Gustafson won two national championships with the Longhorns

By Dayn Perry

Cliff Gustafson, the legendary former head baseball coach of the Texas Longhorns and one of the winningest coaches in college baseball history, has died at age of 91, his family confirmed to the Austin American-Statesman. According to the family, Gustafson died in his sleep Monday morning of congestive heart failure. 

Gustafson helmed the Longhorns from 1968 to 1996 and won national championships in 1975 and 1983. As well, Texas under Gustafson claimed 22 Southwest Conference titles and made the College World Series 17 times. Overall, Gustafson's 1,466 wins rank 15th all-time among college baseball coaches -- a category he led at the time of his retirement -- and his career winning percentage of .792 is the highest ever at the Division I level. 

I don’t post often, but Coach Cliff Gustafson's passing made me realize his impact on my life. He put the loss in perspective on the bus after losing the National Championship. “ Someday, you will realize that competing in the championship game and finishing 2nd in the Nation is something to be proud of”.
He was right- Anonymous

Gustafson was named National Coach of the Year in 1982 and 1983, and he was a member of the College Baseball Hall of Fame's inaugural class of inductees in 2006. He's also a member of the American Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame, the Texas Sports Hall of Fame, and the Longhorn Hall of Honor. Along the way, Gustafson at Texas coached future major leaguers like Roger Clemens, Greg Swindell, Burt Hooten, Keith Moreland, and Ron Gardenhire, who went on to manage the Minnesota Twins and Detroit Tigers.

https://texas-lsn.squarespace.com/coach-gus-1968-1982-ibaseball

Joseph Kraft says - Nicest guy to ever cut me from a baseball team. 

2-time Texas national champion coach Gustafson dead at 91

ByThe Associated Press

January 2, 2023, 1:40 PM

AUSTIN, Texas -- Former Texas baseball coach Cliff Gustafson, who led the Longhorns to two national championships and nearly two dozen conference titles in 29 seasons, died Monday at age 91, the school announced.

Gustafson played on the Longhorns team that made it to the 1952 College World Series. He returned as head coach in 1968 and stayed until 1996. He finished with a career record of 1,466-377.

Gustafson led the Longhorns to national championships in 1975 and 1983, and 22 Southwest Conference championships. His Texas teams played in the College World Series 17 times.

Kevin S. Smith -Nooooooo! RIP to one of the nicest men I’ve ever met and one of the best coaches ever. I cherished him so much that I named my dog Gus. 

His .792 career winning percentage ranks second among major college coaches. His 1,466 career wins ranked first when he retired and now rank 10th.

Before taking the job at Texas, Gustafson won six Texas state high school championships. He said he took a $500 pay cut from his high school position when then-Texas football coach and athletic director Darrell Royal offered him the Longhorns job.

"The historic run he had in building on the great legacy of our baseball program will never be forgotten, and the stature he took it to continues to this day," said Tommy Harmon, a former Texas all-American catcher and longtime assistant under Gustafson.

“He was a man who just loved baseball, loved his players and every year gave his teams everything he had,” Harmon said.

Harmon was inducted into the Texas Athletics Hall of Honor ins 1983 and is a member of the College Baseball Hall of Fame.

        
Robert L. Hernandez comments -Gus ball worked for many years and produced many many W’s.

Bohls: Texas' Coach Gus was a complete winner and totally beloved ... by all

Story by Kirk Bohls, Austin American-Statesman (photos and fan comments were added to Kirk Bohls article as an adjunct to his Coach Gus article by Billy Dale.)

Anyone who has ever hit a single letter on the keyboard of their Royal typewriter or their MacBook Air computer is more than aware that there is never any cheering allowed in the press box.

It’s so understood that the internal public-address system at every stadium makes that formal announcement before every football game in case any needed a professional reminder.

But that sportswriter mandate never addresses crying in a press box.

There are tears today for the passing of legendary Texas baseball coach Cliff Gustafson, a man I had the privilege to know better than any other coach for half a century. Tears of sadness for our loss and his family’s loss. Tears of gratitude for his life well lived. Tears of relief that he will suffer no more from Parkinson’s disease or congestive heart failure.

The latter claimed him in the early hours of Monday morning with his beloved daughters, Jann and Jill, at his bedside.

We, on the other hand, were blessed to have him for 91 years, almost a third of which were spent in a Longhorns baseball uniform. And I was blessed to call him friend. 

Steve Crow says - Coach had good players and teams when no one else in Texas cared about baseball. Turned me into a lifelong UT fan. RIP Coach Gus.

I was no different than most of the 7,695 fans who packed UFCU Disch-Falk Field last June 3 and gave him a standing ovation. Gustafson, taking in his only game of the year from his wheelchair in a private suite with legends of their own like Greg Swindell, Doug Hodo, Kirk Dressendorfer and others, beamed as the cheers washed over this giant of a man. He deserved all the acclaim and more. He may well have been the greatest coach Texas has ever had in any sport.

I loved Coach Gus. I truly did.

I know we’re not supposed to, journalistic professional detachment and all. But I spent 20 years covering his every game and many of his grueling practices as a beat writer from 1975 to 1994 and two more seasons as an American-Statesman columnist. Coach Gus, or “18,” as some reverently called him with reference to his jersey number that he wore in that third-base coaching box forever, was the most down-to-earth, affable coach I’ve ever been around.

An unfinished mural in the summer of 1997 on the 1200 block of E. 6th St. honored Texas sports legends Earl Campbell, Tommy Nobis, James Street, Darrell Royal and Cliff Gustafson, who won two national championships with the Longhorns and 22 Southwest Conference titles.© Ralph Barrera/American-Statesman file

College Baseball isn’t as big in some parts of the  country as it is in Texas, and one of the reasons is Cliff Gustafson.  The legendary Longhorn coach passed away today at the age of 91.  In 29 seasons at the University of Texas, his teams won the Southwest Conference 22 times and qualified for the College World Series 17 times!  I got to work with him for six seasons, and enjoyed our pregame visits and his guest appearances on my talk show.  One night in Houston he invited me to bring my guitar to his room and he played me a few tunes.  That happened in 1996 and it seems like yesterday.  RIP Coach Gus.  You were one of the best!  ⚾️ Bill Schoenig

He so wanted to be the Longhorns head coach after six high school state championships at South San Antonio, he took a $500 paycut with the offer from Texas athletic director Darrell Royal. But he was so astounded to even get the phone call from DKR that after the initial greeting, a dismissive Gus said, “Yeah, and I’m Roy Rogers.”

For all his 1,466 wins that made him college baseball’s all-time winningest coach — he now sits at 15th, but eighth among Division I coaches with a staggering, best-ever .792 winning percentage — and two national titles, he was a simple man, given to simple tastes like peanut butter and honey sandwiches and corn chips for darn near every lunch he ever had and his favorite Blue Bell vanilla ice cream before Type 2 diabetes objected. 

But he was a dedicated man who gave his all to the University of Texas, who’d religiously run several miles every day on the Disch-Falk warning track and a devoted husband to the late Janie, his second wife Ann and his three children, including his late son Deron, who died in 2008. Gus defined excellence.

Paul Martin- He was a fantastic Coach and man ! I learned so much from him !! Prayers for the entire family !

He touched countless lives and often believed in them more than the players sometimes did themselves. He was tough. No doubt. He pushed them hard because he cared so much. He let nothing slip through the cracks. 

He’d win a game by forcing a balk with a man on third in the ninth, he’d win a game by giving a take sign on a 3-2 count, and he’d win a game sometimes by squeezing every last pitch — and I mean every — out of the guy on the mound. That was Gusball, a tag I gave his winning brand of baseball.

But he was also brutally realistic. When iconic trainer Frank Medina expressed his frustration with getting Keith Moreland to run drills and adhere to the rules, Gus said, “Frank, I can always find another trainer. But I can’t find another All-American third baseman.”

The well wishes poured in on Monday. Even the governor sent his condolences to the family of the man who went to the College World Series 17 times in 29 seasons.

I always remembered the one time I asked Gus what he would have been, had he not chosen coaching, and the soft-spoken man with the dry wit and deadpan approach from Kenedy, Texas, said he had wanted to be an auctioneer, just fascinated by the fast-talking gibberish at cattle auctions, which was interesting because no one ever talked or walked slower than he did.

I’d drop by his office some days after a loss and he’d say, “That was a pretty crappy story you wrote today.” I’d reply, “Well, that was a pretty crappy game you coached.” He’d laugh and then we’d visit for half an hour.

He got furious in 1975 — the year of his first national title — when our newspaper ran a story on Page C5 about backup second baseman Danny Dinges quitting the team before Omaha, so it wasn’t all peaches and cream, but he had his tender side as well.

One day during one of his extended workouts as we sat alone in the dugout toward the middle of his career, he told me, “I love you.” I was completely flummoxed, didn’t know how to respond and finally sheepishly said, “You know how I feel about you.”

I loved Coach Gus. So did so many others.

He was easily the most genuine and honest coach I’ve ever been around. He was always the same. He was so totally unaffected by his fame and accomplishments but so driven by winning the next game. I’ve been in the locker room when he’d berate players and question if they were good enough to play at this level. He almost always knew what buttons to push to get results.

He didn’t befriend his players during their playing days, but they became devoted to him afterward with an abiding appreciation for how he helped them become men who lived with purpose and without excuses. He wasn’t wild about excuses.

Cindy Sanders Moreland with accolades -One of the most awesome men I’ve known. Love Coach Gus.

Relief pitcher Jimmy Tompkins became incredibly close to Gus. He rightfully fought hard to have Gus’ name attached to the stadium, a goal that still needs fulfilling.

“For someone who was such a strict taskmaster on the field, he had the most incredible tender heart,” Tompkins said. “I will always cherish the years we spent nearly every afternoon telling stories and playing guitars. He created a family that we are all a part of, and he was the centerpiece.”

Outfielder Doug Hodo Jr., whose son also played outfield for Texas just a season ago, completely adored the man he himself played for in the ❜80s, helping him win his last CWS crown in 1983. We spoke Monday, and he said poetically, “I just hope there’s peanut butter in heaven.”

Hey, not to worry. Gus probably packed some for the trip. He always prepared for everything.

In the 1980s, the golden era of Longhorns baseball, Gus won the College World Series in 1983 and finished second the next two seasons. In 1989, Texas limped into Omaha with one of his least-talented teams ever, paced by ace Kirk Dressendorfer and slugger Scott Bryant, and was runner-up again, this time to Wichita State.

That was the year when Texas A&M had maybe its best team ever but fell at home and didn’t make it to the CWS. After accepting the regional trophy at Disch-Falk Field, Gus leaned into the microphone at home plate and said, “Where are the Aggies now?” He immediately regretted it, this bastion of good Texas manners and gentlemanliness, but he was caught up in the moment.

We shared his precious peanut butter and honey sandwiches in his tiny cubicle of an office beneath the third-base stands at Disch-Falk before the Longhorn moved to the first-base side. I treasured those days.

He had won so many Southwest Conference baseball championships — 22 in all — that he used one as a doorstop and others stood scattered around his office on filing cabinets and the floor.

Brent Mears remembers -RIP Coach Gus. Thanks for all of those wonderful years of UT Baseball.

It was in 1975 when I first saw the huge sign in the locker room that said, “Winning shall not be entrusted to the weak or timid.” Others have used that mantra since, but no coach ever lived it as he did every single day of his life.

He didn’t even want to lose intra-squad scrimmages. His drills were so honed down to the last detail that his players responded like robots when such moments arose during games. Arkansas coach Norm DeBriyn once was awestruck as his Razorbacks were about to knock off the Longhorns at the College World Series when a Hogs batter hit a fierce comebacker to the mound that the Texas pitcher calmly fielded before firing home for a 1-2-3 inning-ending double play. Routine stuff. Just like they’d practiced. It’s what winners do.

His nephew, John Turman, told me Monday, “My favorite quote was when someone told Coach Gus you can’t win ❜em all, he said, ‘You can if you’re good enough.’“

Coach Gus was more than good enough. 

He was the best. And I loved him.

Elizabeth Guy says- I was fortunate to see him coach and he was definitely old school tough but fair. He definitely had some of the best teams. Great coach! Sorry for his family's loss.

01.03.2023 | Baseball

Remembering Cliff Gustafson

The legendary Longhorn baseball coach passed away on Monday.

By Bill Little, longtime Texas Sports Information Director and co-author of the book, "Texas Longhorn Baseball: Kings of the Diamond".

Our friend Webster, in his online dictionary, says the word "enigma" is something that baffles understanding and cannot be explained; how it got out is a mystery; it remains one of nature's secrets.

Cliff Gustafson and his trail to a legendary coaching career at Texas was a bit of an "enigma." But the end result, his extraordinary success and status as one of the Longhorns' all-time winningest coaches, is clear.

But to understand the path of the man that became known as "Coach Gus" and the iconic brand of "Gus Ball", you have to understand the times and his twists and turns it took to get there.

The odyssey of Cliff Gustafson from a kid in Kenedy, Texas, to a life-changing telephone conversation with then UT Athletics Director and Football Coach Darrell Royal, one of the legends in all of college athletics, was a curious one. Cliff was a farm boy, who grew up in the dirt soil of South Texas. He had seen his mother struggle with life after his father passed away when he was only five years old. His memory of early life was the fact that his father had been able to borrow enough money from the bank to buy a tractor just before he passed. Life could have been so much easier for him had he chosen to use that tractor and continue in the family business. He instead became obsessed with perfecting his skills with a bat and ball then eventually plowing through the ups and downs of coaching.

As his journey would continue, the family would eventually leave the farm. Then, in October of 1941, he encountered a radio broadcast of the Major League World Series, and a whole new world opened to him as the sport the then-teenager became devoted to, became a lifelong passion and career. Gustafson would head to college where he went on to letter as an infielder at Texas in 1952. He then would have a run at minor league baseball before getting a chance to become a head baseball coach at South San Antonio High, where in 13 seasons he won seven state championships, including one of his teams going 39-0. 

Fast forward, if you will, to that surprising phone call from Darrell Royal when Gustafson took a $500 pay cut to become the Texas baseball coach in the spring of 1967. Despite his accomplishments and the resume he'd built, Coach Gus was genuinely shocked he'd caught the attention of the iconic leader at his alma mater. It turned out to be the perfect fit and didn't take Royal long to find that he had landed the right man for the job to replace the legendary Bibb Falk, who was retiring following that season.

Gustafson would be following in the footsteps of a Hall of Famer in Falk and the foundation that was laid by another Longhorn Legend before that, Billy Disch. Big shoes to fill, but Royal was confident in his choice. "A coach is a coach," said Royal at the time. "And Cliff Gustafson, in my opinion, would be a successful coach in any sport on any level. And we didn't need a committee to decide that."

College baseball in the late 1960s was a much smaller venue with little media coverage, and shortened schedules. But all of that changed in the years that would follow. Gustafson's first Texas team in 1968 played 34 games, there were no conference tournaments, and the NCAA postseason field featured fewer teams. By the mid-70s they were playing as many as 70 games, the NCAA Tournament expanded, and a Southwest Conference postseason tourney was introduced in 1977. Live television coverage of the sport would soon follow.

In the midst of his career, Gustafson was fortunate to be a part of — and play a role in — a rapidly growing era of popularity in his sport. There were high profile players who carved the legacy that would take him to becoming the winningest coach in all of college baseball, but perhaps his greatest tributes came from those who learned more about life than just baseball from Gustafson. 

Dr. Mike Sweeney gave up his pitching career in college baseball to earn a degree that would eventually lead him to become one of the top cardiothoracic surgeons working with some of the most outstanding medical people in the world. He credits Gustafson with the advice that guided his path.

"A legend passes," wrote Bobby Little, who is president of the elite Copper Nail Roofing Company in the Metroplex. "He knew how to raise the bar to the highest and convinced you that you could, and should, make that play. There was no one better at raising that bar to make you believe in yourself."

Dave Saba, who heads the media relations office at Duquesne University and was a baseball publicist for Gustafson in the late 1980's at Texas had this to say: "One of my favorite memories in 35 years of this profession was getting over to Disch-Falk early and watching Coach Gus's teams take infield. They were a beautiful model of precision. (Assistant coach) Bill Bethea would hit ground ball after ground ball and all you would hear was the ball off the bat and the smack of leather. The footwork was like a ballet in cleats. His teams had that Texas mystique. Down 3-1 in the seventh? The opposing team, the Longhorns and every fan in that stadium knew who was going to win."

In the enigma of life, the passages are many and unique.

At old Clark Field, where Cliff Gustafson first plied his trade as a player and coach at Texas, the centerfield limestone cliff wall was 347-feet from home plate. The fence behind it ranged from 12 to 30-feet above ground level, with a narrow ledge in front of the wood fence. Any ball that landed on the winding cliff, known as "Billy Goat Hill", was in play.

They say those from Texas who played there knew where hand holds and footsteps were. And with that knowledge, they could scamper up the cliff, retrieve the ball, and throw out an unsuspecting runner trying to stretch a single into a double — or many more. Some called that local knowledge. Others said it was simply "an enigma." Or think of it as "Gus ball," the path where philosophers say, "Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity."

Once, when Cliff and I were walking down a hotel hallway in Dallas, I commented that I was glad UT had dropped a nonconference game to break a long win streak.

"Why?" asked Gustafson.

"Well, it takes the pressure off," I replied. "After all you can't win 'em all."

"You can," said Gustafson, "if you're good enough."

Winning nearly 80 percent of his games (1,466-377), a record 17 College World Series appearances, two National Championships (1975 & 1983), and 22 SWC Championships. Coach Gus's teams were often good enough, and with our Longhorn Legend's passing at 91 on Monday, we honor and celebrate his unique and amazing path to the top.

His career should not have ended this way, but time heals wounds, and after it was all over, Coach won the legal game.

https://texas-lsn.squarespace.com/coach-gus-deserved-a-better-ending