|
Having led Texas State to five straight Southland Conference post-season tournament and an appearance in the 2000 NCAA Tournament, Ty Harrington begins his sixth season as Texas State's head coach.
In five years at Texas State, Harrington has directed the Bobcats to a 168-129 record, making the coach the fastest to reach that many wins in the 19-year Division I history of the Texas State program.
The 70 victories Harrington had in his first two seasons tied him for the most wins in consecutive seasons in Texas State history with Steve Prentice, who won 70 games from 1987 to 1988. A monumental 300th career collegiate victory came at his alma mater, Texas, on April 23, 2002.
An eighth straight Southland Conference Tournament appearance for the Bobcats came at the end of the 2004 regular season as Texas State finished third in the 10-team league. Facing a daunting schedule, the `Cats completed the season with a 32-26 overall mark and a 16-10 SLC record. Texas State defeated No. 16 Texas A&M during the season, and played 14 games against ranked opponents. Six players earned all-conference recognition in 2004, bringing the total to 28 in Harrington's five seasons at Texas State.
The 2003 campaign was a successful one, as the Bobcats finished second overall in SLC regular-season play, finishing just one game behind regular-season champion Lamar. They had a 30-28 overall record and a 19-7 Southland mark in advancing to the SLC Tournament. The `Cats had five Southland All-Conference selections on the top three teams. Harrington also guided Texas State to a win over then-defending national champion Texas, as well as Baylor, a 2004 Baseball America Preseason Top 25 pick.
In 2002, Harrington led the Bobcats to a 36-24 record, the second most wins posted in a season by a Texas State baseball team in 17 years. His club collected 10 wins against nationally-ranked teams and 12 against teams in the NCAA tournament. Among the wins was a 2-0 shutout in Austin, Texas against the eventual 2002 National Champion Texas Longhorns. Six of his players in 2002 were selected to the All-Southland Conference First, Second, and Third Teams.
In 2001, his second year, Harrington led his squad to an overall record of 36-22, going 15-11 in conference. Harrington's squad won games against Big XII powerhouses Texas, Texas A&M, and Baylor in that season. Five Bobcats were named to the SLC-All Conference Team that year, including two first-teamers.
Harrington's first season at Texas State (2000) saw the Bobcats capture only their third Southland Conference Tournament Championship in history and advance to the NCAA Regionals. In each of his first four seasons, Harrington has led the Bobcats to the SLC Tournament, and last year the Bobcats just fell short of winning their first SLC regular-season title, coming up a game short behind champion Lamar.
Prior to coming to Texas State in the fall of 1999, Harrington was the head coach at Blinn Junior College in Brenham, Texas. In one season with the Buccaneers, Harrington guided the team to a 36-22 record, advancing to the Region XIV Junior College Tournament.
Harrington also served as the head coach at Northeast Texas Community College in Mount Pleasant, Texas, from 1995-98. In his first season, he led the team to a 37-12 finish. In 1996, the Eagles won the National Junior College Championship, finishing the season with a record of 48-18. Harrington received National Junior College Coach of the Year honors for the title season. In four years of running the show at Northeast Texas CC, Harrington recorded a solid winning percentage of .705, winning 165 of 234 games during his reign.
While at NTCC, Harrington assisted in the development of an academic accountability system that resulted in a team grade point average above 3.0 for three consecutive years.
Harrington's coaching career began at the University of Texas, where he served as a student and graduate assistant from 1988 to 1991. He then moved to Jonesboro, Ark., as an assistant coach at Arkansas State. Harrington helped the Indians establish several school records, including most wins in a season. Arkansas State won the 1994 Sun Belt Conference Championship and advanced to the NCAA Regionals.
In his playing days, Harrington was a two-year letterwinner at the University of Texas, where he played under college coaching legend Cliff Gustafson. Harrington was a member of Texas' teams that advanced to the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska, in 1984, 1985 and 1987. He also served as team captain on the 1987 Longhorn squad.
As a player and coach, Harrington has been a part of collegiate baseball teams that have advanced to post-season play in 18 of 20 seasons.
Harrington is married to the former Leila Baggett. He has two daughter, Melaine (12) and Emma Noel, who was born in January.
|
||||||||||||||||
