Subscribe
Follow Us
It took one day after the College World Series for Jim Schlossnagle to make a decision. He helped the Texas A&M baseball program reach the biggest game of his players' careers. The usual expectation is to build on that success and bolster the Aggies. This is such that they avenge their loss to the Tennessee baseball squad. However, it looks like he had other plans and it did not involve making sure his players got the last laugh against the Vols. Instead, he pushed through in joining the Texas Longhorns.
You heard that right! Jim Schlossnagle is headed to the Texas baseball program, per Chip Brown of 247 Sports. He was bought out of his Texas A&M baseball coaching contract. The Aggies made sure to give the Longhorns a harder time, though. Schlossnagle just had a buyout of $1.35 million to other teams. However, if he were joining Texas baseball, those figures would balloon to $2.7 million. It was because he was understandably going to an in-state and in-conference rival.
This was not a shocking decision for the players in the Texas A&M baseball program. Immediately after their 6-5 loss to the Tennessee Vols in the College World Series, Schlossnagle told his players of the move. So, when the news broke, everyone on the Aggies' rotation had prior knowledge of what he was going to unveil the day after.
Schlossnagle is not the only big loss for the Texas A&M baseball program. He has also stated that the rest of his coaching staff will join him in the move to Texas baseball. This could mean that some players of this squad that reached the World Series and ravaged the SEC will likely also enter the transfer portal so that they are reunited with the head honcho that got them to the final. There is no certainty of this happening but players often commit to coaches. So, it would not be surprising if someone from the program also joined the Aggies' SEC rivals.
Texas A&M baseball was in the way of Jim Schlossnagle reuniting with a friend
One would think that scoring 53 wins in a season and having 19 of them be in the SEC likely pushes a coach to stay. That was not at all the case for Schlossnagle. Their only losses came from highly-ranked RPI squads but Schlossnagle just wanted to be working under Chris Del Conte once again.
Del Conte was given the job by the Texas baseball program back in 2017. They have been best friends for a really long time. Their chemistry in the office and coaching staff is very important in laying out the foundations of a successful program. In the era of the NIL, this has become more important. It is often the coaching staff who determines what they can offer to a player. The two being in sync in giving top-notch recruits big offers would make them a favorite in winning the College World Series in the coming years.
It's a tough blow for Texas A&M baseball after they were so close to winning it all.
