Jim Schlossnagle, one of the nation's premier baseball coaches who took programs at Texas A&M and TCU to historic heights over the last 21 years, has been named head coach at The University of Texas, UT Vice President and Lois and Richard Folger Athletics Director Chris Del Conte announced.
A 23-year head coaching veteran who was twice named National Coach of the Year and led his team to the College World Series seven times, he becomes just the sixth Longhorn head baseball coach since 1911 (with the exception of the war years of 1943-45 when assistant football coach Blair Cherry was at the helm). He is the 14th head coach in 123 years of Texas Baseball.
Schlossnagle's introductory press conference is set for Wednesday at 11 a.m. and will be streamed live on TexasSports.com.
During his combined 21-year tenure as head coach at TCU (2004-21) and Texas A&M (2022-24), Schlossnagle has led his teams to the CWS in six of the last 10 seasons. That includes trips to Omaha in two of the last three seasons with the Aggies, including earning A&M's first-ever spot in the championship series this year. His six CWS appearances in the last 10 seasons are tied for the most of any coach (Kevin O'Sullivan, Florida), while his 50 (50-22/.694) NCAA Tournament wins during that stretch are the best of any coach. The programs he has built make it even more impressive as his six wins in two CWS appearances at Texas A&M tripled the Aggies' all-time total of two CWS victories in the history of the program. Meanwhile at TCU, four of the Horned Frogs' six CWS appearances came under Schlossnagle, and he led them to the final four at the CWS three times (2010, 2016 and 2017), the furthest that program has ever advanced. All totaled, his squads have been to the CWS seven times (all in the last 14 years), at least the final four on five occasions, and in 23 years as a head coach, his teams have earned NCAA Tournament bids 20 times. The resurgences of his programs all began in his first head coaching job at UNLV, where he led a struggling Rebels program to a Mountain West Conference Championship (regular season & tourney) and back to the NCAA Tournament in just his second year in 2003.
"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."
Schlossnagle's Texas A&M program reached historic levels in short order, leading the Aggies to the CWS his first year (2022) and again in 2024. What he did on the biggest stage for Texas A&M was significant, posting a 6-4 record in the two CWS appearances for a program that had just two CWS wins in its history. Before he arrived, the Aggies had six CWS appearances in program history with the most recent coming in 2017. The Aggies' 53 wins in 2024 were tied for the second-most in school history. He took the Aggies to their best-ever NCAA runner-up finish with his patented squad built around outstanding pitching (fourth-best nationally in ERA at 3.86/nation-leading 12 shutouts/school-record 715 strikeouts), great fielding, reliable big bats (fourth-best nationally in home runs with 136) and clutch hitting. And they overcame a rash of injuries, adversity and challenges while still managing to advance to the CWS championship series. The Aggies outscored their CWS opponents 14-3 in the first three games to earn their spot in the championship series before dropping a closely contested series to No. 1-seed Tennessee, 2-1, including a 6-5 deciding final game. A&M had an all-time program-best five players earn All-America honors on the year, catcher Jackson Appel; outfielders Braden Montgomery and Jace LaViolette; reliever Evan Aschenbeck and starter Ryan Prager.
"What a home run hire," said Jay Hartzell, UT President. "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."
In Schlossnagle's three seasons in College Station, the Aggies' rise to dominance was marked by winning nearly 70 percent (135-62) of their games under his leadership. And the success was immediate as Texas A&M went 44-20 and advanced to the CWS in his first year at the helm in 2022. The Aggies were one of the final four teams remaining that year and won their first games in Omaha in 20 years (since 1993) that season. That was the first A&M squad to reach the final four in Omaha, and he matched the total number of CWS wins in program history in just year one. Texas A&M also won the SEC Western Division title with a 19-11 mark with Jacob Palisch and Dylan Rock earning All-America recognition, and Micah Dallas, Joseph Menefee and Rock getting selected in the MLB Draft.
Schlossnagle's Aggies followed a trip to Omaha in his first season by pushing to the title games of both the SEC Tournament and the Stanford Regional in year two, finishing with a 38-27 mark.
Before his move to College Station, Schlossnagle built one of college baseball's elite programs during his 18 years at TCU. He guided the Horned Frogs to the CWS five times, making their Omaha debut in 2010 and adding four consecutive CWS trips from 2014-17. TCU was one of just three schools to earn five trips to Omaha in a 10-year stretch (2010-19). The Horned Frogs posted an 11-10 CWS mark, including being one of the last four teams standing in 2010, 2016 and 2017. He left Fort Worth as TCU's all-time winningest coach with a 734-346 (.680) record. It was a dramatic turnaround for the Frogs, as prior to his arrival, TCU had made just two NCAA Tournament appearances. He responded by guiding the team to 15 tournaments, including nine consecutive NCAA postseasons from 2004-12. The success included all seven of TCU's NCAA regional titles, which began in 2009.
Schlossnagle navigated TCU to success in three different conferences, claiming 19 total conference titles between the Big 12, Mountain West and Conference USA with 10 in the regular season (7 MWC/3 Big 12) and nine in tournaments (2 C-USA/4 MWC/3 Big 12). The Horned Frogs claimed tournament titles in their last two seasons in Conference USA, entering the 2004 tournament as the number four seed before surging to the crown, then repeating as the postseason champs in 2005. They proceeded to win both the regular season and postseason championships in each of their first three years in the Mountain West. They left the Mountain West after the 2012 season with 11 league titles (7 regular season/4 tournament). Schlossnagle wasted little time in the move to the Big 12, finishing second in the regular season, winning the postseason tourney and advancing to the CWS in year two. He topped his time in Fort Worth by sweeping the Big 12 regular season and tournament championships in his final year in 2021. All totaled, TCU won six Big 12 Championships under his leadership, the 2015, '17 and '21 regular-season crowns and the 2014, '16 and '21 tournament titles. That nearly tripled the all-time conference title total TCU won prior to his arrival of seven, all of which came in the Southwest Conference (1933, 1956, 1963, 1966, 1967, 1972, 1994), before he took over and led them to their first league title in 11 years in just year one (2004).
Additionally, Schlossnagle taking over at Texas reunites him with Del Conte, who was TCU's athletics director for eight seasons (2010-17) of his tenure as the Horned Frogs' baseball coach. During their time teaming up together, TCU advanced to the CWS five times and won four Big 12 Championships (2 regular season/2 tourneys). That memorable run was one for the record books as TCU had earned an NCAA Tournament berth just twice (1956, 1994) and won just one NCAA Tournament game before Schlossnagle arrived.
"What a great day it is to be a Longhorn," said Del Conte. "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."
Schlossnagle's ability to turn programs' fortunes around, and in quick fashion, was evident from his first head coaching job at UNLV. He took over a Rebels program in 2002 that had six losing campaigns in the nine years prior to his arrival, never won a MWC Championship, and had not been to an NCAA Tournament in six seasons (since 1996). In his first season, he guided them to the semifinals of the conference tournament as a 5 seed, and by the end of his second and final season, he led a high-scoring UNLV squad that posted a 47-17 record, won the MWC regular season and tournament championships, and advanced to the NCAA Tournament.
The Hagerstown, Maryland native has enjoyed tremendous success during his 23-year career as a head coach at Texas A&M, TCU and UNLV, amassing an 946-455 (.675) mark. Schlossnagle is just the fourth coach to win multiple CWS games at different programs, joining Longhorn Legend Augie Garrido, Larry Cochell, and Andy Lopez. He is also one of just 11 coaches to win a game in the CWS as skipper of multiple programs.
A leader in his sport on the collegiate level, Schlossnagle served as president of the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) in 2023. He has been an ABCA member for 33 years and has consistently been involved in advancing the profession. Elected to the ABCA board in 2017, he is integral in shaping the association's legislative efforts and crafting the agenda for each year's convention. He served as the ABCA's Division I chairman in 2018, and in 2019, he began a string of four one-year stints as vice president, capped off by serving as president in 2023.
The Schlossnagle coaching tree has been extremely fruitful, as well. Eight NCAA Division I baseball coaches during the 2024 season sharpened their craft under his tutelage, including Derek Matlock (UTRGV), Randy Mazey (West Virginia), Bill Mosiello (Ohio State), Kirk Saarloos (TCU), Ryan Shotzberger (UIW), Steven Trout (Texas State), Tony Vitello (Tennessee) and Todd Whitting (Houston).
Schlossnagle earned national recognition for his efforts, being named National Coach of the Year by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association in 2010 and Baseball America in 2016. He also served a stint as the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team head coach in 2013 and as a Team USA assistant coach in 2016.
He has been recognized as a conference coach of the year on eight occasions as well, earning Mountain West honors in 2003 and 2006-11, and Big 12 recognition in 2015.
TCU players enjoyed MLB success during his 21 years there, including a school-record nine players drafted in 2019, highlighted by Nick Lodolo picked by the Cincinnati Reds with the No. 7 overall pick, the highest in school history. Sixteen players mentored by Schlossnagle have appeared in the Major Leagues since 2008, including 2015 NL Cy Young Award winner Jake Arrieta and three-time MLB All-Star Matt Carpenter.
Before life as a head coach, he spent eight years as associate head coach and recruiting coordinator at Tulane. He was an integral part of the Green Wave's success, helping Tulane to six NCAA Regional appearances during his tenure. He served as the Green Wave's recruiting coordinator for his last five years and garnered three nationally-ranked recruiting classes, which helped produce two 48-win seasons and a No. 1 NCAA Regional seed.
In 1993, he served as the pitching coach at Clemson. The Tigers finished that campaign with a 45-20 record, an Atlantic Coast Conference Championship and a third-place finish in the NCAA Midwest Regional. Seven members of that pitching staff were drafted.
After graduation, his coaching career began with three seasons as an assistant at Elon College (N.C.) where he helped lead his alma mater to a 99-41 mark, picking up two South Atlantic Conference Championships, one District 26 title and one regional appearance.
As a player, he was a pitcher on the 1989 Elon squad that finished 39-7 and appeared in the NAIA World Series. He graduated magna cum laude from Elon with a bachelor's degree in physical education in 1992 and earned a Master of Education degree in human performance and health promotion from the University of New Orleans in 1995. He has a son, Jackson Lambert, and a daughter, Kathleen Grace.
