San Diego State coach and former Padres Hall of Fame outfielder Tony Gwynn has announced he has cancer, according to the San DIego Union Tribune.

Gwynn told the paper the cancer was discovered a month ago, and he will begin chemotherapy treatments immediately. He said he plans to return to the Aztecs in 2011.

BA correspondent Kirk Kenney said he saw Gwynn at practice Friday and the coach was in good spirits.

Gwynn has had three rounds of surgery since 1997 to remove tumors on his parotid gland—on the side of his face between his ear and chin. The first two were benign, but last month the tumor was malignant.

"They took out three lymph nodes and did all the tests and the results showed cancer in the parotid," Gwynn told the Union-Tribune. “The doctors have told me they feel they caught the cancer early and there was not much of it there.

"They say this is a slow moving but aggressive form of cancer. I’m going to be aggressive and not slow moving in treating this.”

The Union-Tribune's terrific story has more details and plenty of candid quotes from Gwynn.