'It gave them an identity': How Reggie Willits helped fuel OU's College World Series run

Reggie Willits and the Sooners aren't afraid of failure.

OU has established a new identity in its College World Series run, which continues 1 p.m. Wednesday with a game against No. 5-seeded Texas A&M. OU boasts 145 stolen bases this season, a total that surpasses its previous four baseball campaigns combined (130).

"If you attack and be aggressive and don't worry about the failure, then that's what it's really about," OU head coach Skip Johnson said. "You give yourself a chance to succeed by trying to fail."

Tramel's ScissorTales: OU baseball latest example of College World Series Cinderellas

OU's aggressive base running is a reflection of Willits, who has never been known to settle.

Willits grew up in Fort Cobb, a speck on Oklahoma's state map with a population of just over 600 people. He had dreams of playing professional baseball one day, but it proved difficult to catch the eyes of college scouts.

"I wasn't really somebody that a lot of people recruited," Willits said. "Nobody was, really."

Willits didn't let that stop him.

He spent his first two seasons at Seminole State College before transferring to OU in 2002. It was the perfect landing spot for him and his recently-married wife, Amber, who also grew up in Fort Cobb and wanted to stay close to home.

Willits thrived with the Sooners, particularly when he got on base. He earned All-Big 12 second-team honors in 2003 by racking up a conference-best 37 stolen bases, which still ranks sixth in program history.

Willits' strong play led him to be selected by the then-named Anaheim Angels with the 210th overall pick in the 2003 MLB Draft. He remembers listening to the draft on the radio with his parents and breaking down when he heard his name get called.

"I was just thankful for the opportunity," Willits. "I had never been drafted out of high school or junior college because I wasn't a highly-touted prospect. I had a lot of failures throughout my career. There was a lot of fighting, working and grinding."

Willits made his major league debut in 2006 and finished fifth in AL Rookie of the Year voting in 2007. He had 27 steals and 74 runs scored that season.

A nagging Achilles injury ultimately shortened Willits' big-league playing career. He decided to retire in 2011 to spend more time with his family, which now consisted of a wife and three sons.

"I was just tired of being away from home and not seeing my wife and kids very much," Willits said. "It was just one of those things where I was done playing."

Coaching was never something Willits thought about pursuing. Instead, he planned to run a cattle ranch that he and his family owned at the time.

But baseball found its way back into Willits' life.

Binger-Oney's superintendent reached out to Willits in 2012 and offered him the head coaching job for the high school baseball team.

It was an offer Willits laughed off at first, but the deal got sweeter when his wife, who was a teacher, was also offered a job at the school.

"It was the opposite of being a major-league player," Willits said. "You didn't make nearly as much money. But it was what I was looking for at that time in my life, which was a lot of family time. It was a huge blessing for us to get that opportunity because it brought our family back together after we had been apart for so long."

More: Why the heart of OU baseball's Peyton Graham outweighs his thin frame

Willits led Binger-Oney to two Class A state championships in his four seasons at the helm.

Soon afterward, the New York Yankees reached out to Willits in 2014 and offered him a spot on the coaching staff. Willits, who was happy being around his family so often, declined.

But the Yankees came calling once again in 2015. Willits flew to New York with the intention of turning the job down but returned impressed by the vision of Gary Denbo, the Yankees' vice president of player development at the time.

After discussing it with his family, Willits accepted the offer to become the team's outfield and baserunning coordinator.

"We knew what we were going to be getting ourselves into," Willits said of his family. "We had been together as a family for a long time, and now we were going to get split apart because I'd have to travel a lot. It was a tough decision for us."

Willits became the Yankees' first base coach and outfield instructor in 2018, a position he held last year.

Time away from family eventually began to take a toll. In a four-year span, Willits had only seen about three of his sons' baseball games in person.

That's when the Sooners came calling.

Willits was offered a spot on OU's staff as a volunteer assistant last October, which he accepted. For head coach Skip Johnson, the addition of Willits' base-running knowledge was invaluable.

"I think it gave them an identity," Johnson said of his team. "That's what Reggie has done. He's detail oriented."

OU's aggressive base running has paid off this season.

After being picked to finish sixth in the Big 12 preseason poll, the Sooners are now one win away from reaching the College World Series' championship round for the first time since 1994.

OU entered the tournament with 142 stolen bases, which ranked fourth in the nation and first among the eight College World Series teams.

"Reggie is special," said redshirt sophomore Kendall Pettis, who has 22 steals this season. "I love him. Ever since he has gotten here, he has helped me a lot. I think he has been a really big part of this team."

While seemingly everyone on the team raves about Willits' impact, he isn't one to pat himself on the back.

The base-running specialist just keeps his head down and moves forward.

"I'm still learning every day," Willits said. "If you're not learning, you're not improving. I'm just trying to learn every day, continue to improve and try to help the players in any way."

Justin Martinez can be reached at jmartinez@oklahoman.com or @JTheSportsDude on Twitter. Make sure to subscribe to The Oklahoman to stay up to date with all local sports.

College World Series

At Charles Schwab Field in Omaha, Neb.

Tuesday's games

Texas A&M 5, Notre Dame 1

Auburn vs.Arkansas, late

Wednesday's games

Oklahoma vs. Texas A&M, 1 p.m. (ESPN)

Ole Miss vs. Auburn/Arkansas winner, 6 p.m. (ESPN)

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OU baseball: Reggie Willits has fueled team's College World Series run