SAN MARCOS —— With his employer, United States International University, in financial trouble and behind three months pay, Bob Vetter made the biggest decision of his then-young life.

It was time to leave his alma mater —— a school he helped lead to an NAIA baseball title in 1973 as a player, then coached for five seasons —— and look for a new job.

In 1980, he interviewed at a number of schools, including UC Santa Barbara and Texas-El Paso. He turned down the head job at Whitman College in Washington. He settled for being Jim Clayton's assistant at Palomar College.

"I'd been working at Palomar as an hourly instructor in the summers when I was at USIU," Vetter said. "I was familiar with the program, knew the junior-college system was good, and more importantly I wanted a stable position."

He found it.

For the past 24 years, Vetter has been the Comets' head coach. He has won eight conference titles, including this season.

The 2005 title, however, will be his last.

Vetter, 54, is retiring as a baseball coach and will turn the program over to Buck Taylor, his assistant for the past five seasons. Vetter will stay on campus as chairman of the physical education department.

"I vowed to recruit locally, so we had some struggles early," Vetter said. "It took some time to get that message across to the high school kids and coaches. But once I convinced people I was in this for the long haul, things took off."

Vetter was 30-33-1 in his first two seasons at Palomar and didn't have a winning season until 1984, his third as the head coach.

He didn't win his first conference title until 1988. Since then, his teams added conference crowns in 1989, '93, '98, '99, 2000, '03 and '05. In a four-year stretch from 1998 through 2001, the Comets were 127-39, with four straight 30-win seasons.

"Junior college is all about opportunity, and Bob wasn't afraid to bring in borderline players and give them a chance," said Troy Afenir, a catcher who played two seasons for Vetter.

Afenir was taken by Houston in the first round of the January second-phase draft in 1983 and later played in the major leagues with the Astros, Cincinnati Reds and Oakland A's.

"He gave kids a chance, and a lot of them played like it was their last chance," Afenir said. "I was a high school hotshot, but I needed to play at a higher level to prove myself. Bob Vetter and Palomar College gave me that chance. Bob wasn't afraid to ruffle feathers, and he wasn't afraid to make the tough decision. Bob was a good coach when I was there, but he's even better now. Junior-college ball is a springboard to bigger and better things for a lot of guys."

One of those players was Darren Balsley, who played at Mt. Carmel High for Sam Blalock and then for Vetter at Palomar. Balsley is now the pitching coach for the Padres.

"I was really fortunate to play for Sam Blalock, then Bob Vetter," Balsley said. "Both helped me a lot as a player, and I acquired a lot of knowledge, things I use today, from both of them. Both Sam and Bob are sticklers for fundamentals, so I had a head start going into pro ball after playing for them."

In the 1980s, Vetter had a chance to coach professional ball. He turned down an offer from the Astros to run their short-season club in Sarasota, Fla.

His wife, Sarah, talked him out of it, telling her husband he was over-qualified for the position. It's another decision Vetter never regretted.

"Family is so important to me," Vetter said. "Working in pro ball would have taken me away from my family. I can't give you one specific reason I'm walking away now other than to say it's time. But family played a part in it."

Vetter's son Robby is a sophomore at Torrey Pines High, where he's a catcher on the varsity baseball team and also plays soccer. Vetter's daughter Emily, who turns 14 this month, plays basketball at Earl Warren Middle School and club soccer for the Rancho Santa Fe Attack. Plus, she wants to try her hand at lacrosse.

"I love watching my kids perform," Vetter said. "I want to help and encourage them. This season, I was hardly able to see one game they played. I don't want to miss watching them play, grow up."

Still, walking away from this team, a team that is 23-7 and has nailed down the Pacific Coast Conference title, wasn't easy for Vetter. But he feels he made the right decisions his whole life and believes retiring is the right one.

"I started coaching in 1974 at USIU under Bob Potter," Vetter said. "I was a graduate assistant and was able to get my masters and teaching credential. I had a job offer at Poway High for $10,000 —— huge money back then —— but I wanted to be a college coach. Potter told me to stay at USIU. He retired the next season, and, at 24, I was a college coach. It wasn't easy there. The equipment room was the trunk of my car. But I stuck with it, and things have worked out.

"My mother wanted me to be a lawyer or a doctor, but I enjoy helping kids, helping them make the right choices."

One of those he helped is current Palomar player Brandon Adams.

The former Oceanside High star went to Long Beach State out of high school, didn't pitch his freshman season, and saw his career slipping away. He contacted Vetter and got a second chance. He has blossomed into one of the top junior-college pitchers in the country and will play at Oklahoma State next season.

"Coach Vetter gave me an opportunity to play again," Adams said. "He has been behind me 100 percent, always positive. He recruited me out of high school, but I was intent on going to Long Beach. When it didn't work, Coach Vetter was huge in keeping my career going.

"Playing at Palomar has been a lot of hard work but a lot of fun. He's such a solid man, a guy who builds confidence in his players. The success we have here starts at the top with Coach Vetter."

No Vetter team has advanced beyond the Southern California Regionals.

With strong pitching, solid defense and good hitting on this year's team, he feels the Comets could make a run at finally doing so. The regional playoffs begin May 14.

"I've never been huge up on numbers," Vetter said. "Retiring after 24 years instead of 25 wasn't a big deal. And not winning a state championship doesn't bother me.

"What's important is that I still get butterflies before every game, that I have pride in myself and the program, that I have a passion for the game and that my players learned something while they were here, got better and had the opportunity to go on and play."

Contact staff writer John Maffei at (760) 740-3547 or jmaffei@nctimes.com.