Texas Athletic Director Chris Del Conte got his man.
On Monday David Pierce was fired by Del Conte after eight seasons in Austin. The same day, Texas A&M and head coach Jim Schlossnagle were playing in the biggest game in the history of Texas A&M Baseball – Game 3 of the College World Series Final against Tennessee. The Volunteers beat the Aggies 6-5 to clinch their first national championship. Less than 24 hours later, Del Conte convinced Schlossnagle to leave Aggieland after three successful seasons to become the next head coach at the University of Texas, as first reported by Chip Brown at 247Sports.
Schlossnagle, who is 53 years old, amassed a record of 135-62 during his three seasons in College Station. He led Texas A&M to the College World series twice and a Regional. He reunites with his former boss in Del Conte, who he worked for from 2009-2017 at TCU. Schlossnagle coached the Horned Frogs for eighteen seasons (2004-2021) and tallied a record of 734-343 in Fort Worth.
He becomes the 14th coach in program history and takes over a Texas program that has appeared 38 times in the College World Series and won six national championships – the third most in the country.
Texas will be on the hook for Schlossnagle’s buyout from Texas A&M, which is apparently twice as much if he leaves Texas A&M for an in-state school. He made 1.35 million this season.
The University of Texas released an official statement on Tuesday evening about Schlossnagle’s hiring. He will be formally introduced as head coach on Wednesday morning at 11:00 am and his introductory press conference will be live streamed on the TexasSports website. There are no reported details of his contract yet.
WHAT UT SAID ABOUT THE HIRING OF JIM SCHLOSSNAGLE
UT 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.”
UT System Board of Regents Chairman Kevin Eltife
“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. 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.”
UT Vice President and Lois and Richard Folger Athletics Director Chris Del Conte
“What a great day it is to be a Longhorn. We are absolutely thrilled to have Coach Schlossnagle joining our Longhorn Family, and like everything we do, we couldn’t have made this happen without the incredible leadership in our chairman of the board of regents and our president. Chairman Eltife and President Hartzell are a critical piece in every decision we make, they are such great friends and counsel, and together help us make great days like today happen for Longhorn Nation. I can’t thank them enough.”
“I’ve known Coach Schlossnagle for a long time, and there’s no better coach, program builder, and leader in the game, and the best part is he’s an even better person,” Del Conte added. “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. 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. 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.”
