BEATING San Miguel Beer in the finals of last season's PBA Philippine Cup must have been the biggest win of Luigi Trillo's coaching career. San Miguel had a full squad and was teeming with superstars.
Yet Trillo, with contribution from Nenad Vucinic, was able to devise a plan to hand the Beermen a rare defeat in the conference considered by many as SMB"s personal property.
But a decade ago, Trillo nearly saw himself on the other side of the fence. He would have been San Miguel coach if not for a phone call that came much earlier than San Miguel's offer.
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The Bolts head coach recalled that he received an offer to become San Miguel coach in 2014 when he was in between jobs after he and Alaska parted ways.
“Grateful that I was able to coach Alaska and now Meralco. I almost had a chance with San Miguel,” Trillo bared. “That was really so close to happening.”
Trillo recounted getting a call from San Miguel governor Robert Non at a time when the league’s most-titled franchise had just finished a PBA season without reaching the finals in any of the three conferences under another coach-active consultant duo in Biboy Ravanes and Todd Purves.
“Boss Robert gave me a call and told me to go. When they say that, that means you take it, right?" said Trillo.
But when SMB called, Trillo said he was already in the middle of negotiations with the MVP group. He was then without a coaching job and was working as part of the broadcast panel calling the PBA games.
“Yeah, they (MVP Group) called me when I was covering the games. I didn’t know where I was going to be, but they spoke to me and I liked our discussion,” Trillo said. “Lo and behold, after I think about 10 days, I get that callup (from SMB).”
Trillo said by the time San Miguel callled, he already had decided to join Meralco as an assistant coach to Norman Black.
Job goes to Leo Austria
While Trillo could just think of what might have been for missing a chance to coach the country's most accomplished team, the good fortune fell on Leo Austria who was signed to a one-year deal. Austria went on to to win nine championships and four Coach of the Year awards with SMB.
"I said thank you to boss Robert. I owe him a lot for that. Boss Al also called me,” he added, referring to SMC sports director Alfrancis Chua. “But by the time that happened, Leo already signed with them.”
Asked if he ever wondered what it would be like had he been SMB coach, Trillo seems to say past is past and what is important to him is the present. He said he is contented with where he is now with the Bolts and is happy for making history for the Bolts by giving them their first ever PBA championship.
“I’m very grateful with the MVP group,” Trillo said.
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