Jim Schlossnagle leaving Texas A&M to become next baseball coach at Texas

AUSTIN, Texas — One day after leading Texas A&M to a runner-up finish in the College World Series, Jim Schlossnagle is leaving College Station to become the new baseball coach at Texas, sources told Horns247.com.

The sources said Schlossnagle plans to bring his coaching staff with him to Austin.

Tuesday evening Texas made Schlossnagle’s hire official and announced an introductory press conference set for 11 a.m. on Wednesday.

“I’ve known Coach Schlossnagle for a long time,” said Texas athletic director Chris Del Conte, who served as Schlossnagle’s AD at TCU from 2009 to 2017. “There’s no better coach, program builder, and leader in the game, and the best part is he’s an even better person. When we were looking for our next baseball coach, we knew Schloss would be the perfect choice, and we are beyond thrilled that he’s joining our Longhorn family.” 

One day after Texas A&M suffered a crushing 6-5 loss to Tennessee for the College World Series title, Schlossnagle met with his players to tell them he had a decision to make about whether to rejoin his friend and former athletic director Del Conte at Texas or remain in College Station, two sources close to the situation told Horns247.

Schlossnagle, who has a $1.35 million buyout that doubles to $2.7 million if he takes another job in the state of Texas, met with A&M officials in the late afternoon Tuesday and informed them of his decision, sources told Horns247.

“He’s a guy who obviously knows our state so well, is very familiar with our program’s rich and proud history and everything Texas baseball is all about, and absolutely checks all the boxes for this critical position,” Del Conte said of Schlossnagle in a statement released Tuesday night. “He really understands every level of building a team, develops and gets the best out of his players and coaches, recruits with the best of them and is totally dialed into the holistic growth of the student-athletes in his program.”

“Our players, our staff, the UT community and Longhorn Nation will absolutely love him. I can’t wait to get him started and for everyone to have a chance to meet him. The future of our program is in great hands, and I’m so excited to have Coach Schloss joining our elite group of coaches as we prepare to head into the Southeastern Conference.”

The news adds a new chapter to a 100-year rivalry between Texas and Texas A&M before the Longhorns even officially join the Aggies in the Southeastern Conference on July 1.

After spending 18 seasons at TCU – eight of them with Del Conte as his boss in Fort Worth, Schlossnagle, 53, took over the A&M job in 2022, going 135-62 (.685) in three seasons, including a 53-15 record while finishing national runner-up on Monday night.

“Everywhere Coach Schlossnagle has been he’s built winners at the highest level, had a first-class program in every way and is an absolutely perfect fit to lead our baseball program,” said Kevin Eltife, Chairman of the UT System Board of Regents. “He had a historic run at TCU, took Texas A&M to heights they’d never seen, and the way he develops his players and works with his coaches and team is really something special. I couldn’t be more excited to watch him work his magic on the Forty Acres.”

Added Texas president Jay Hartzell:

“What a home run hire. Coach Schlossnagle is the best in the business. His long list of accomplishments is incredible, and his track record of building great programs is well documented. We are the premier baseball program in the country with legendary coaches, our six national championships and record 38 College World Series appearances, so it’s certainly fitting that we hired a coach of his caliber to lead us. We’re looking forward to great days ahead with Coach Schloss leading our Longhorns.”

Sources said Schlossnagle’s comfort level and history with Del Conte, who took over as athletic director at Texas in 2017, proved to be a decisive factor in the decision.

“Schloss and CDC (Del Conte) are close and have remained close,” a source close to both told Horns247.

Schlossnagle, who has taken teams to the College World Series six times in the last 10 years (and seven times total),  was hired at Texas A&M by former athletic director Ross Bjork, who left earlier this year to take the same job at Ohio State and was replaced as the Aggies’ athletic director by Trev Alberts.

Early Monday, Texas announced in statements from Del Conte and from David Pierce, the Longhorns’ baseball coach since 2017, that a mutual decision had been reached to part ways. Pierce went 297-162 (.647) in seven completed seasons at Texas with three trips to the College World Series and had two years left on a contract paying him $1.2 million.

Schlossnagle’s base salary of $1.35 million at Texas A&M this season is likely to at least double and could reach $3 million at Texas, one source said.