Garrett was a baseball coach at Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville for 33 years. Five of his teams advanced to the NCAA Finals. He was named Coach of the Year five times. Collins became the head coach at SIU in 1979. After graduating from SIU-E in 1970, he was the assistant baseball coach from 1972-73. Collins played first base on the SIU-E team for three years.

Collins played first base in the Mon-Clair League for 14 years, has served on the NCAA Division II Championship Committee and on the ABCA All-American Committee.