Omaha, Neb. ? As Augie Garrido approaches his fifth College World Series championship game, he’s noticed the expectations as the coach of Texas are much greater than those put on him at Cal State-Fullerton.

Even after leading the Titans to three national titles, Garrido quickly found out how hard it was to follow a legend, regardless of how decorated his own past.

“I didn’t have the experience to be disapproved of as much as I was,” Garrido said of his early seasons at Texas. “I found it had a negative effect on my ability to focus on my role in the first three years.”

The Longhorns will face South Carolina, a 10-2 winner against Clemson in Friday’s elimination game, for the national championship today.

Garrido replaced longtime Texas coach Cliff Gustafson, the man who had more wins (1,427) than any other Division I baseball coach. Now in his sixth season at Texas, Garrido has 1,378 career victories in his 33-plus years as a college coach. He is second only to Gustafson.

One more win today will give the Longhorns their fifth national title.

Garrido is only the 12th head coach for the Longhorns since the school began playing baseball in 1897. He earned Big 12 coach of the year honors this year after sweeping the conference regular-season and postseason titles.

He brought his second Texas team to the College World Series this year and Thursday night beat Stanford, 6-5, to earn a trip to today’s championship game.

He is one win away from doing what no other Division I coach has done win national championships with two schools.

The success might have been the result of Garrido’s realization that he had to get back to the game of baseball after three seasons of 22-22, 23-32-1 and 36-26. Those were sub-par years by Texas standards.

“Finally I understood I had to get to the essence of it all,” Garrido said. “And all I could do is stay totally focused on the team and the players and the staff.”

He said he regained that focus and Texas returned to its traditional role as a national power.

“We all wanted the same thing,” he said of fans, boosters and players. “I think I pulled it all together after the third year. I kept getting pushed around by things I had no control over.”

That included criticism from media and fans, he said. He learned to handle the increased scrutiny at Texas.

“I was totally disappointed, shocked by it and bothered by it,” he said. “I just took some time to myself. It was one of the hardest things I ever had to do.”

He said one of his realizations was that he had to make changes. One was to change pitching coaches, letting Burt Hooten go. Garrido said it was a hard decision because Hooten was a gentleman, friend and had such a strong Texas tradition.

Garrido brought in Texas Tech’s Frank Anderson, who helped raise the level of Longhorn pitching to this year’s No. 1 national ranking in team ERA.

The maturing for Garrido also has allowed him to move beyond the early Texas criticism.

“Now it doesn’t really matter,” he said. “Whether it was fair, unfair, it doesn’t really matter. Now, it’s whether (leadoff hitter Tim) Moss can bunt? Can he steal a base? Can he hit? That is what has to be the main importance, and are we as coaches staying focused on it. Helping the players help themselves reach their full potential, that’s the ultimate goal.”

Winning helps. So does reaching the national championship game.

“The joy that comes to me from winning,” he said, “is on the faces of every player and every coach,” he said.