Texas Baseball Coach Jim Schlossnagle Explains 'Super Hard' Decision to Leave Texas A&M

New Texas Longhorns baseball coach Jim Schlossnagle came under fire for his decision to leave the Aggies. On Wednesday, he explained that choice.

Matt Galatzan | Jun 26, 2024

Jun 23, 2024; Omaha, NE, USA; Texas A&M Aggies head coach Jim Schlossnagle before game 2 of the College Baseball World Series against the Tennessee Volunteers at Charles Schwab Field Omaha. Mandatory Credit: Dylan Widger-USA TODAY Sports / Dylan Widger-USA TODAY Sports

AUSTIN - The Texas Longhorns hired new head coach Jim Schlossnagle on Wednesday, in a move that sent shockwaves through the college baseball world.

On one side, the Longhorns were praised for their swift and decisive action to land arguably the nation's best coach in the midst of his former team's College World Series run.

On the other, Aggies fans felt heartbroken and betrayed by the coach that, less than 24 hours earlier, had expressed outrage when asked if he was considering leaving College Station.

And for both sides, there was one major lingering question: Why now?

During his introductory press conference on Wednesday, Schlossnagle went in depth in his answer to that question, and explained exactly why he decided to leave Aggieland for the 40 Acres.

"I'm sure the question will come up, why this move and why now? I don't take that lightly," Schlossnagle said. "On some hands, this was a very easy decision because of my relationship with Chris, my past history, and my belief in him and his wife Robin. But, it was obviously very hard. There's a lot of decisions in life that you don't get to choose the timing. You don't get to meet with your team as you would like. And for that, I am sorry... Although it was super, super hard and emotional to make this decision because of my love for the players at Texas A&M, I just simply could not pass up this opportunity."

At the end of the day, Schlossnagle's choice was always going to be Texas. In fact, it was reportedly going to be that way dating all the way back to before the postseason even began.

Obviously, that doesn't help heal the wounds that will be left in Aggieland as a result of his departure.

But according to Schlossnagle, regardless of the timing or the destination, there was never going to be an easy way to do it.

"Many people on the A&M side will say this wasn't done the right way," Schlossnagle said. "I don't know another way it could have been done."

Published Jun 26, 2024

MATT GALATZAN

Matt Galatzan is the Managing Editor and Publisher of Texas Longhorns On SI and Texas A&M Aggies On SI and a long-time member of the Football Writer’s Association of America. He graduated from the University of Mississippi, where he studied integrated marketing communications, with minors in journalism and business administration. Galatzan started in the sports journalism industry in 2014 covering the Dallas Mavericks and SMU Mustangs with 247Sports. He then moved to Sports Illustrated's Fan Nation network in 2020, eventually being taking over as the Managing Editor and Publisher of the Longhorns and Aggies sites a year later. You can find Galatzan on all major social media channels, including Twitter on @MattGalatzan.