Larry Cochell

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Larry Cochell
Biographical details
Born1939 or 1940 (age 83–84)[1]
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1967–1969Emporia State
1970–1971Creighton
1972–1976Cal State Los Angeles
1977–1986Oral Roberts
1987Northwestern
1988–1990Cal State Fullerton
1991–2005Oklahoma
Head coaching record
Overall1331–813–3
Accomplishments and honors
Championships

Larry Cochell is a former American professional coach in NCAA Division I college baseball. He coached baseball for the Emporia State Hornets (then known as Kansas State Teachers College), the Creighton Bluejays, the Cal State Los Angeles Golden Eagles,[2] the Oral Roberts Golden Eagles, the Northwestern Wildcats, the Cal State Fullerton Titans, and the Oklahoma Sooners.

Career[edit]

He took three programs to the College World Series, doing so with Oral Roberts in 1978, Cal State Fullerton 1988 & 1990, and Oklahoma in 1992, 1994 & 1995, being the first coach to do so (with Ron Polk and Andy Lopez doing the feat in later years). He went 8–10 in six appearances.[3] It was with Oklahoma that he received his highest success, leading them to a national championship at the 1994 College World Series in his fifteen seasons with the club. During his time at Oklahoma, he had his two of his sons play on the team, Chad (1997–2000) and Craig (1992–1993), with the former playing 126 total games and hitting .255 for his career.[4] He is one of 56 coaches with over 1,100 wins, having a record of 1331–813–3, 21st most.

Controversy and aftermath[edit]

On April 29, 2005, reports surfaced that he used racial remarks to describe one of his players, notably saying in an interview before an ESPN2 telecast of the Oklahoma-Wichita State game that “There are honkies and white people and there are niggers and black people. Dunigan is a good black kid ... There’s no nigger in him.”, which he used to describe Oklahoma's freshman outfielder Joe Dunigan III. On May 1, 2005, he resigned, with Sunny Golloway serving as interim head coach for the rest of the season.[5] After the resignation, he was offered positions in minor league baseball and work in Europe, but he turned them down, citing how he wanted to spend time with his family and deal with his health, particularly blockage in two of his arteries that were found around the time of his stepping down.[1][6]

Head coaching record[edit]

Statistics overview
Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
Kansas State Teachers College (Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) (1967–1969)
1967 Emporia State 16–17
1968 Emporia State 25–14
1969 Emporia State 29–13 NAIA World Series
Emporia State: 72–44 (.621)
Creighton Bluejays (Independent) (1970–1971)
1970 Creighton 25–7
1971 Creighton 24–21
Creighton: 49–28 (.636)
Cal State Los Angeles Golden Eagles (Pacific Coast Athletic Association) (1972–1974)
1972 Cal State Los Angeles 23–27 12–6
1973 Cal State Los Angeles 31–20 13–5 1st
1974 Cal State Los Angeles 35–18 18–5 1st
Cal State Los Angeles Golden Eagles (Independent) (1975)
1975 Cal State Los Angeles 12–30
Cal State Los Angeles Golden Eagles (West Coast Athletic Conference) (1976)
1976 Cal State Los Angeles 16–33 4–14 7th
Cal State Los Angeles: 117–128 (.478)
Oral Roberts Titans (Independent) (1977–1980)
1977 Oral Roberts 35–17
1978 Oral Roberts 45–12 College World Series
1979 Oral Roberts 34–24
1980 Oral Roberts 38–16 Midwest Regional
Oral Roberts Titans (Midwestern City Conference/Midwestern Collegiate Conference) (1981–1986)
1981 Oral Roberts 45–10–1 6–0 1st (South) Midwest Regional
1982 Oral Roberts 49–13 7–1 1st (South) Midwest Regional
1983 Oral Roberts 51–17 9–1 1st (South) Midwest Regional
1984 Oral Roberts 38–23–1 7–5 2nd (South)
1985 Oral Roberts 50–19 10–2 1st (South) Midwest Regional
1986 Oral Roberts 43–20 6–0 1st (South) Mideast Regional
Oral Roberts: 428–172–1 (.713)
Northwestern Wildcats (Big Ten Conference) (1987)
1987 Northwestern 23–20–1 5–11 T–4th (West)
Northwestern: 23–20–1 (.534)
Cal State Fullerton Titans (Pacific Coast Athletic Association / Big West Conference) (1988–1990)
1988 Cal State Fullerton 43–18 12–3 3rd College World Series
1989 Cal State Fullerton 30–27 10–11 5th
1990 Cal State Fullerton 36–23 13–5 1st College World Series
Cal State Fullerton: 109–68 (.616) 35–19 (.648)
Oklahoma Sooners (Big Eight Conference) (1991–1996)
1991 Oklahoma 40–23 13–11 2nd South Regional
1992 Oklahoma 43–24 17–7 T–1st College World Series
1993 Oklahoma 31–24 13–14 5th
1994 Oklahoma 50–17 21–9 2nd College World Series champions
1995 Oklahoma 42–16 21–7 1st College World Series
1996 Oklahoma 32–25 14–12 3rd
Oklahoma Sooners (Big 12 Conference) (1997–2005)
1997 Oklahoma 39–20 18–11 4th South I Regional
1998 Oklahoma 42–20 17–11 4th Atlantic II Regional
1999 Oklahoma 30–29 12–18 8th
2000 Oklahoma 41–23 20–10 3rd Baton Rouge Super Regional
2001 Oklahoma 25–33–1 13–16–1 7th
2002 Oklahoma 35–27 15–12 4th Clemson Super Regional
2003 Oklahoma 23–31 10–17 7th
2004 Oklahoma 38–24 19–8 2nd Coral Gables Super Regional
2005 Oklahoma 23–20* 7–11* 5th [N 1]
Oklahoma: 511–336–1 (.603) 223–163–1 (.578)
Total: 1331–813–3 (.621)

      National champion         Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b Hoover, John E. (8 May 2006). "A new start to life". Retrieved 27 September 2018.
  2. ^ "16 baseball media guide - Cal State LA" (PDF). lagoldeneagles.com. Retrieved 27 September 2018.
  3. ^ http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/baseball_cws_RB/2012/8-CWScoachingrecords.pdf [bare URL PDF]
  4. ^ "Career Statistics - The Official Site of Oklahoma Sooner Sports". www.soonersports.com. Retrieved 27 September 2018.
  5. ^ "OU's Cochell: Resigning was 'right thing to do'". ESPN.com. 2 May 2005. Retrieved 27 September 2018.
  6. ^ "OU Baseball Media Guide". Retrieved 27 September 2018.

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ On May 1, Cochell resigned from the program due to racially insensitive remarks, one month before the 2005 NCAA Division I baseball tournament. The team finished with an overall record of 35–26 (14–13 in the Big 12). Sunny Golloway led the team to the Tournament, where they lost in the Oxford Super Regional.

See also[edit]

External links[edit]