Remembering Cliff Gustafson

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 the passing of our Longhorn Legend at the age of 91 on Monday, we honor and celebrate his unique and amazing path to the top.

The University of Texas at Austin Athletics