Oklahoma hires Golloway as new baseball head coach

NORMAN, Okla. (AP) _ This time, Oklahoma thinks it has a baseball coach who's going to stay for more than a day. <br/><br/>Athletic director Joe Castiglione on Friday introduced Sunny Golloway as the

Friday, July 15th 2005, 6:23 pm

By: News On 6

NORMAN, Okla. (AP) _ This time, Oklahoma thinks it has a baseball coach who's going to stay for more than a day.

Athletic director Joe Castiglione on Friday introduced Sunny Golloway as the Sooners' new coach, only four days after Gene Stephenson took the job only to decide later in the day that he'd return to Wichita State for a 29th season.

Castiglione said he picked up some signs that Stephenson might be reconsidering when Stephenson didn't button an Oklahoma jersey he was presented during his introductory news conference, in which he lamented a difficult decision to leave Wichita State.

There were no wardrobe malfunctions with Golloway, though.

After Castiglione said the interim coach would be elevated to permanent status, Golloway took off the jacket from his black, pinstriped suit and slipped his arms into an Oklahoma baseball jersey. One by one, he slipped five buttons through their buttonholes.

``I did want to button it,'' Golloway said. ``I don't plan on taking this jersey off any time soon.''

Castiglione said Golloway made it clear that he was devoted to Oklahoma, where he had been an assistant coach on the Sooners' 1994 national championship and gave up a head coaching job at Oral Roberts to return as an assistant in 2003.

``I knew without reservation that Sunny Golloway not only wanted this job, he had effusive emotion about the opportunity to lead and really the chance to build a program that will become something very, very special,'' Castiglione said. ``He wanted it, and I knew that from Day One. That was never a question in my mind. Never a doubt.''

Castiglione said Oklahoma offered Golloway a four-year contract worth $166,000 annually, including a $106,000 base salary and $60,000 in considerations for endorsements, radio and television appearances and other duties. The contract, which is pending approval, also includes performance-based incentives triggered if Golloway leads the Sooners to conference or national championship or if he is named coach of the year.

Golloway was named interim coach May 1 when coach Larry Cochell resigned after making racially insensitive comments. Under Golloway, the Sooners won 10 of their last 12 regular-season games and passed Oklahoma State and Texas Tech in the Big 12 standings to earn a second straight NCAA tournament berth.

After Golloway took over, the Sooners improved their power numbers and got more aggressive on the basepaths. Oklahoma hit 22 home runs and went 38-for-57 on steal attempts in 42 games under Cochell, but hit 27 home runs and went 26-for-32 on steals in Golloway's 18 games as coach.

Castiglione said the turnaround in the face of distractions and adversity was a factor in his decision.

``It wasn't just the fact that we won, but the way that the players handled themselves. The place that they were when he started to the place where they were when they finished,'' Castiglione said.

But Castiglione said he considered Golloway's entire body of work, which included a 335-156 record in eight seasons with Oral Roberts. Golloway's career record of 347-162 puts him 10th among active Division I coaches in winning percentage at .681.

After Oral Roberts joined the Mid-Continent Conference in 1998, Golloway led the team to six straight conference titles with an 85-5 conference record.

Several returning players, including pitcher Will Savage and outfielder Chuckie Caufield, said during a prolonged search that Sooners players preferred to have Golloway stay on as coach. ``I think he's a very special person,'' Caufield said. ``... He's one of those coaches who cares about you on and off the field. A lot of coaches care about how you perform on the field. Some of them don't even bother with a player's personal life. It means a lot to know that a coach cares about his players as individuals outside of baseball.

``You can have a conversation with him and not talk about baseball, and just talk about life.''

Golloway said he wasn't hurt that Oklahoma picked Stephenson ahead of him. He moved out of his office at L. Dale Mitchell Park when Stephenson was hired, but will be moving into Cochell's old office when he returns.

``It was easy to keep my head up,'' Golloway said. ``I will say this. Gene Stephenson has a successful record. Gene Stephenson is a Hall of Fame caliber coach. He's No. 1 in win percentage.

``I felt it was no foul in Gene Stephenson being named the head coach at that time.''

Golloway, a Springfield, Mo., native, grew up in Stillwater and attended Northeastern Oklahoma A&M for one year before transferring to Oklahoma Christian and earning his bachelor's degree.

He and his wife, Charlotte, have two daughters, Sunni Kate and Taylor, and one son, Callen.