Tech Coach Quietly Enters Upper Echelon
May 25, 2005 | Baseball
May 25, 2005
By Betsy Blaney
Associated Press
LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) - Texas Tech coach Larry Hays may be one of the most successful baseball coaches in NCAA Division I history, but he says that doesn't matter much to him.
"It's not about the numbers," Hays said. "It's about getting to do it. It's fun."
Hays, 60, this season became the fifth Division I coach to notch 1,400 wins. He's hoping to add to his 1,424 victories when Tech opens the Big 12 tournament against top-seed Nebraska on Wednesday in Oklahoma City.
The only other coaches with 1,400 wins are Texas' Augie Garrido, Wichita State's Gene Stephenson, former UT coach Cliff Gustafson and Virginia Tech's Chuck Hartman.
Hays said he measures success not by wins, but by how well he's able to meld players' talents and how well they work together as a team.
"You get together for a season and point toward a direction and see what you can do together," he said.
That approach seems to have worked over 35 years as a head coach.
"He's definitely a player's coach," said Tech catcher Cooper Fouts. "He doesn't try to create too much. Your opportunities are great because you get so much freedom."
Hays came to Tech in 1987 after 16 years at Lubbock Christian University. He's only had two losing seasons in his career and has taken the Red Raiders to three conference championships and nine NCAA tournaments.
Tech has ranked in the NCAA top 10 numerous times under Hays, grabbing the top slot during the 1997 season when the Red Raiders finished 46-14. It was the first time any Tech sport garnered a No. 1 national ranking.
At Lubbock Christian, he won an NAIA national title in 1983 and compiled a 695-381 record. LCU ranked in the top 10 the last nine years he was there. The first eight years at LCU Hays also coached basketball.
"But, you know, when you have a family and you want to see them, you can't do both," said Hays, who played both sports at LCU.
Back when he was a basketball coach, he tried tried to emulate coach Bob Knight _ then at Indiana, now at Texas Tech. Like Knight, Hays stressed discipline and accountability. Unlike Knight, Hays is known for his laid-back style.
"He coaches his personality, and I got to coach mine," he said. "We're two totally different people. That don't mean I can't win a game, too, but I better do it my way."
A native of Dora, N.M., about 100 miles west of Lubbock, Hays played basketball and baseball in high school. Hays says he's modeled his coaching style after Dora High School basketball coach Bob Buchanan. The two still stay in touch.
"He was not only good as a player but he had an outstanding attitude and worked hard," said Buchanan, who now lives in Ballard, Ky. "He was a good team player because he supported other players and patted them on the back when they needed it."
Hays says he'll keep coaching until someone tells him otherwise, or it ceases to be fun. Though he doesn't really care what his baseball legacy might be, Hays would like people to say he tried to live a Christian life.
"When I'm gone, if I leave on a high note, they'll remember me about 10 minutes," Hays said. "If I leave on a low note, the guy that follows me, he'll blame everything on me.
"I'll just be real thankful I had that ride."