Jeff Samardzija is about to begin his 13th year as a professional baseball player.

So whom did he pick when asked to choose the coach who had a transformative influence on him?

Naturally, he chose his college football coach.

On Friday night, at the fourth annual Coaching Corps Game Changer awards at the Fairmont Hotel, Samardzija will honor Tyrone Willingham. The former Stanford head coach recruited Samardzija to play football at Notre Dame, but was open-minded enough to accommodate Samardzija’s desire to play baseball.

“He didn’t have to,” Samardzija said, “but that shows the character of someone, when they do something that they don’t have to do.

“It was selflessness. To not limit a kid’s possibilities due to his personal needs and wants.”

Willingham, who recruited Samardzija for his 2003 class but coached him for only two years, was as surprised as anyone at the selection.

“It borderlined on shock,” said Willingham, who now lives in Los Gatos. “I’m very honored. This isn’t like the media or your peers giving you an award. It’s your player telling you that you made a difference in his life.

“That’s why you coach.”

Coaching Corps’ mission is to provide access for young people from under-served communities to trained coaches and to sports. The Game Changers Awards illustrate the importance of coaching by featuring several professional athletes honoring the profound importance of their youth coaches.

Samardzija was a three-sport athlete at his Indiana high school. During the recruiting process, he made it clear that he would like the opportunity to play both baseball and football in college. Some schools, like Ohio State, refused. Others, like Michigan, said it might be possible.

Willingham was serious about giving Samardzija the opportunity. Willingham played both baseball and football at Michigan State. He and Paul Manieri, the baseball coach, met and agreed it would work.

Willingham also remembered the words of his mentor, Denny Green, who believed it was ideal to have athletes stay on the razor’s edge of competition. College football provides only about 12 opportunities a season; playing two sports can keep the competitive juices flowing, the focus intact.

“I believe our football team at Notre Dame was better for having a two-sport athlete,” Willingham said. “His work ethic and discipline, his leadership and athletic ability, the pride of other athletes. He adds so much to your team. It never bothered me in the least bit. I just think it makes you better.”

That’s an unusual attitude these days. There is pressure on athletes to specialize at younger and younger ages, making choices before they are physically or mentally mature enough to be sure they are choosing the right direction.

That pressure is especially true in the world of college football, in which many coaches could be classified as control freaks. Spring football, offseason workouts — all of it must be mandatory. But with his coaches’ help and support, Samardzija managed the balance and thought he was able to fully commit to both sports, unlike some other athletes who tried to juggle but eventually had to play just one.

“I was 19, oblivious to everything,” Samardzija said. “I mixed in all the responsibilities, and school, and waking up at 6 to work out. It was hectic, but I was enjoying it. I was happy.”

Samardzija was a Freshman All-American in baseball. His first two years in football, he was a reserve, catching just 24 passes. When Willingham was fired at the end of the 2004 season and Charlie Weis took over the program, Samardzija blossomed, setting season school records for receiving yards and touchdown receptions. Willingham’s critics used Samardzija’s development as a criticism of the coaching regime, but not Samardzija.

“I was undersized and too slow early,” Samardzija. “I wasn’t quite good enough to make enough plays.”

By the time Weis arrived, Samardzija’s dual-sport role was solidified, and Weis accepted it as long as his wide receiver was productive as a baseball pitcher. He was, and after his junior year, he was taken by the Cubs in the fifth round of the 2006 draft.

He played Single A baseball for about six weeks, in Boise, Idaho, and Peoria, Ill., before returning to Notre Dame later in the summer for football. Just as Willingham’s willingness to let him play both sports had helped him, so did the Cubs’ decision to let him return to college football.

“That let me weigh the two sports directly against each other,” Samardzija said.

And though he had another stellar football season and was expected to be a late-first- or high-second-round NFL draft pick in 2007, he announced that he would be playing baseball.

“I felt maxed out in football,” he said. “Fortunately, the Cubs made it easy with their offer.”

Samardzija signed a five-year $10 million contract with the Cubs. Though at 22, he wasn’t thinking about his brain or his longevity as an athlete, 11 years later, it looks like the right decision. Baseball offers guaranteed contracts and minimal chance of debilitating injury. Most of the players against whom Samardzija competed are finished in football.

“I wasn’t worrying about that stuff then, but now I look like a genius,” he said.

Willingham and Samardzija have been in touch in recent years, since Samardzija has been in the Bay Area. Willingham and his wife, Kim, an avid Giants fan, make regular pilgrimages to AT&T Park.

During the recruiting process, Willingham reminded Samardzija of his father, who was “very strict with old-school values.”

Willingham “was a standup dude,” Samardzija said.

One who let his athlete find his own way.

Ann Killion is a San Francisco Chronicle columnist. Email: akillion@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @annkillion

Coaching Corps 4th Annual

Game Changers Awards

Where: Fairmont Hotel (the event is sold out)

When: Awards held Friday; will air on NBCSBA at 9 p.m. Tuesday

Notable: Giants pitcher Jeff Samardzija, honoring his college football coach, Tyrone Willingham; A’s third baseman Matt Chapman, honoring his father, Jim; 49ers defensive tackle DeForest Buckner, honoring his high school football coach, Kale Ane; Raiders linebacker Bruce Irvin, honoring his former linebacker coach, Ken Norton, Jr.; Earthquakes forward Chris Wondolowski, honoring his father, John; Warriors assistant coach Jarron Collins, honoring his high school basketball coach, Greg Hilliard; Los Angeles youth coach Serena Limas will be honored as Coach of the Year.