Texas is home sweet home

It's not hard to figure out that associate head baseball coach Tommy Harmon loves his job.

Self-described as a "player's coach," Harmon's passionate yet effervescent approach to coaching, life and communication with his players is evident in all he does at Disch-Falk Field.

Attend a practice, and watch him joke around with good-natured ribbing of a player. And listen as Harmon proudly congratulates the same player when he gets it right.

Attend a game and see Harmon vehemently argue a disputable call, or wildly wave a hustling base runner home to score the go-ahead run. Notice that Harmon always seems to favor sending the runner - and why not? It's more exciting to make the fielder make the play.

Maybe it's his genuine smile that connects with recruits, or his infectious laughter that keeps things loose. Whatever the reason, it's easy to see that Harmon is just having fun.

"I just love coming out here," Harmon said. "I'm just very thankful and fortunate, that I have an employment that allows me to do something, that I really enjoy doing. I don't consider it work at all."

This season marks Harmon's 15th coaching at the University - 15 years since Harmon returned home to his old stomping grounds in the middle of Longhorn nation. It's the place Harmon seems to belong, and it's the only place where Harmon could seem to be.

"It's wonderful. I wouldn't know about any other place because I've never been," Harmon said, chuckling. "And really, this is the only place I'd ever want to be."

Harmon is as much Longhorn baseball as the the Disch-Falk artificial turf or the national championship banners strewn throughout the ballpark. For when Harmon assumed his coaching duties for the Longhorns in 1989, it was for the same coach - legendary CIiff Gustafson - for whom Harmon had played at Texas from 1968 to 1970.

It was then that Harmon helped Gustafson win his first 3-of-22 total Southwest Conference titles. As a senior, Harmon was named an All-American by The Sporting News, which led to him being taken by the Kansas City Royals with the second overall pick in the 1970 draft.

After an eight-year playing career and six years coaching at various levels of major and minor league baseball, Harmon realized that professional coaching wasn't for him and retired to the business world.

"At the major league level, they have pretty much made it, and coaches are just there to help, if they seek help out," Harmon said, explaining the differences between college and professional coaching. "You tread on water a little bit knowing exactly what you are supposed to do."

But baseball is never an easy habit to break, and the itch to teach and guide young players never left him. And so when Gustafson offered his old catcher a job in 1989, it wasn't a hard decision for Harmon to take it.

"It was unbelievable when Coach Gus asked me to come back," the Fort Worth native said. "I think that's a dream of anyone who played here, to be able to come back and coach here. It's something you don't take for granted."

And so, 15 years and a national title later, Harmon seems to have seen it all. He says the quality of pitching has been the biggest change inside the game. And overall, he marvels at how large college baseball has become on a national scale.

And by playing and coaching professionally, he understands what it takes for his players to get to the next level. With 18 total years at The University of Texas, he understands what his players need now.

"He brings the 'old school' part of it to the job," second baseman Seth Johnston said. "He's got a lot of experience, playing professionally for a long time and playing here, so he knows how to relate to us. It really helps that he's been in our shoes before, and he knows what's going on."

But his style as 'a player's coach' is paying off in even bigger ways, though, than just smooth relations with his players. It also reflects his competitive nature and ability to get serious when the time is right.

Johnston described him also as a well-balanced disciplinarian who keeps the players loose in the clubhouse and in line when needed. The result is reflected in the team, as coaches and players alike have described the positive, confident and determined attitude of the team as its biggest strength and propelling force behind this season's success.

"He brings to the players a spirit of winning," said Texas head coach Augie Garrido, who honored Harmon this season by naming him associate head coach. "He brings a spirit of what major league baseball is about, what minor league baseball is about and what Texas baseball is all about, because he has been a part of it all."

And so Harmon seems to be the perfect fit for Texas and for college baseball. When asked what he would be doing if he wasn't at Texas, he laughed, shrugged and said simply, "I don't know."

Harmon has worked under the two winningest college baseball coaches of all time, and with his team ranked No. 2 in the nation, it's easy to see why he's enjoying what he's doing now too much to even think about doing anything else.

And with Kansas coming to town this weekend for a critical Big 12 series, if the Longhorns are going to take the crown, it's easy to understand why his focus is on the now.

"There is such excellence here that every day when you get up, everything you do has to be top-of-the-line work, and you have to try to achieve to be the best," he said. "If you lose sight of that, then you won't be a very good coach here.."