University of Houston Athletics
Jorge Garza Named to Baseball Coaching Staff
8/3/2007 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Aug. 3, 2007
HOUSTON - After working the previous two seasons as a volunteer assistant, Jorge Garza was recently hired as a full-time assistant coach with the University of Houston baseball team, head coach Rayner Noble announced Friday.
In his new role, Garza will work with the infielders and serve as the team's primary hitting coach. In 2007, Garza led the Cougar outfielders, who racked up 14 assists with junior Bryan Tully posting a team-high eight assists, the fifth-highest total in UH single-season history.
During Garza's first season with the Cougar program in 2006, UH outfielders posted 13 assists defensively with Tully and Jake Stewart recording games with two assists apiece against Tulane and LSU, respectively. That marked the first time in more than a decade that two different UH outfielders recorded multiple assists from the outfield in a game.
"Jorge has experience as a head coach at the high school level, and he has been in this program for two full seasons. He knows the direction we are moving and our personnel," Noble said. "This is just a good move for him and our program. I am excited the possibilities with him in this role."
Prior to coming to UH, Garza served as an assistant coach with Team Texas at the Sunbelt Classic Series the summer of 2004.
Garza was an award-winning prep head coach at Lamar High School. After taking over the reins of that program in August 1998, Garza built a program that earned three District championships and five Bi-District crowns and compiled an impressive 158-57 record during that time.
He was named the District 17-5A Coach of the Year and Coach of the Year by the Houston Athletic Committee in 2002 after guiding the Redskins to the district championship and a Bi-District title.
Two years later, he received both honors again as the Redskins won the 2004 District 18-5A crown and Bi-District championship.
Garza began his professional career at Houston's Robert E. Lee Senior High School in January 1994. He served as an assistant coach with the varsity baseball team and helped lead the school to back-to-back Bi-District championships in 1995 and 1996.
From 1999 to 2004, Garza was a member of the coaching staff of Team One, a national organization that showcases the country's best high-school baseball players.
In May 1998, he worked as the head coach of the Alief Diamondbacks, a semi-pro/college league that featured a mixture of area-college players who traveled and competed around southwest Texas.
Garza graduated from Texas Tech in 1994 with a bachelor's degree in English and finished his academic career with honors, earning a place on the Dean's List in the spring of 1994.
A Houston native, Garza prepped at Lee Senior High. As a member of the baseball team he competed for a district championship against a Waltrip High team led by current Cougar assistant coach Kirk Blount.
He is a member of the American Baseball Coaches Association, Texas High School Baseball Coaches Association and the Houston Area Baseball Coaches Association.
He is single and has three children: Sarah, Jake and Kathryn. Garza replaces Sean Allen, who left to accept a position as an assistant coach at Florida International in late July.
