The Texas A&M Aggies were 7 outs away from sitting atop of College Baseball and winning the College World Series. After a 9-5, Game 1 win the Aggies found themselves leading 1-0 in the top of the 7th inning in Game 2. But a 2-out rally from Tennessee gave them a 2-1 lead in the game that they would go on to win 4-1, tying the series 1-1. Game 3 was a dramatic as anyone could have hoped for, with the Aggies making a late run to cut the deficit to one run in the 9th only to fall short and watch the Vols storm the field.
But the real heartbreak and anger from Aggie fans came about 24 hours post-defeat when manager Jim Schlossnagle made a decision that put the college baseball world on its head. Shortly after the Game 3 loss to Tennessee, Schlossnagle admonished a reporter for asking a question many wanted to know his thoughts on the head coach opening at University of Texas. Knowing now what decision Schlossnagle made after this, his response says a lot about who Texas is getting as their new coach.
Here was his answer: https://x.com/SECUnfiltered/status/1805439857084248380
If you are unable to watch the video, I will transcribe it for you.
Reporter: “Coach, with respect to the difficult outcome tonight, but with the rumors circulating today about a specific job opening (Texas University), what do you have to say about your future in Aggieland?”
Schlossnagle: “Yeah, I mean… I think it is pretty selfish of you to ask me that question to be honest with you, but, I left my family to be the coach at Texas A&M. I took the job at Texas A&M to never take another job again. And that hasn’t changed in my mind, and that’s unfair to talk about something like that. That’d be like you asking Montgomery if he’s gonna sign in the draft. I understand you gotta ask the question, but I gave up a big part of my life to come take this job, and I’ve poured every ounce of my soul in this job, and I’ve given this job every single ounce I could possibly give it… so write that.”
This was tweeted out June 24th at 10:16 PM. June 25th at 5:30 PM, the Houston Chronicle reported that Schlossnagle had accepted the job at Texas as the new Head Coach. Quite the heel-turn from a guy who was so adamant he was staying with the Aggies that he belittled a reporter for even entertaining the question.
Many are now curious how Schlossnagle’s recruiting visits will go, as there will likely be at least one player who wants to know if Schlossnagle’s word carries weight after this turn of events. Schlossnagle joins Texas AD, Chris Del Conte, who was the AD at TCU when Schlossnagle was the coach there.
“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 said in a statement. “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.”
With Texas joining the SEC, the two rival schools will see plenty of each other in 2025. It will be interesting to see how the Aggies welcome Schlossnagle back to College Station.
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