New Texas Baseball Coach Apologizes for Heated Tirade at Reporter

Tom Dierberger | Jun 26, 2024

Jim Schlossnagle was officially introduced as the new head baseball coach at Texas on Wednesday. / Texas Longhorns

Jim Schlossnagle took a moment to address his heated comments toward a reporter earlier this week following Texas A&M's 6–5 loss to Tennessee in the deciding game of the men's College World Series.

Schlossnagle, who arrived in College Station in 2022 to coach the Aggies, was officially introduced as the new coach at Texas on Wednesday.

"I want to publicly apologize to Richard Zane of TexAgs," Schlossnagle said during his introductory press conference. "He's a young reporter. He asked the question that was an obvious question. I wish I could've answered that better. But in the moment, 30 minutes after the last pitch, all I could think about was our players. And I wasn't really in the mood to talk about myself or the future."

Jim Schlossnagle apologies to @RichardZane32 of @TexAgs for his response to Zane’s question following the Aggies game three loss in the CWS Finals.

BUY or SELL Schlossnagle’s apology? pic.twitter.com/nlIxkD7skb

— SEC Unfiltered (@SECUnfiltered) June 26, 2024

Shortly after the game Monday night, Zane asked Schlossnagle about rumors that he would leave Texas A&M for the same job with the rival Longhorns. The 53-year-old coach emphatically denied the reports and criticized Zane for asking the question.

"I think it's pretty selfish of you to ask me that question, to be honest with you," Schlossnagle said. "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. That's unfair to talk about something like that."

Safe to say Jim Schlossnagle DID NOT appreciate the question about his future at Texas A&M in the postgame presser 👀🫢 pic.twitter.com/RlKWSSBPFX

— SEC Unfiltered (@SECUnfiltered) June 25, 2024

Less than one day later, Schlossnagle ditched the Aggies to become the new head coach at Texas.

Schlossnagle previously coached at TCU from 2004 to '21 before joining the Aggies in '22. He led the Horned Frogs to the College World Series final four three times in 2010, '16 and '17 before steering Texas A&M to the College World Series in 2022 and '24.

Texas will formally join the SEC on Monday, meaning there will be plenty of matchups between the Aggies and Longhorns to come with Schlossnagle wearing burnt orange while facing his former team.