2 days Ago
Image credit: (Photo by Morgan Engel/Getty Images) It’s been a whirlwind week in college baseball. Tennessee beat Texas A&M in the College World Series final, rallying to win the final two games of the series. And fresh off his team’s Game 3 loss Monday night in Omaha, Aggies coach Jim Schlossnagle strongly pushed back against reports linking him to the newly-vacant Texas job.
But just a day later, Texas hired Schlossnagle and brought his whole coaching staff with him. Soon thereafter, several of A&M’s best players entered the transfer portal, including All-American outfielder Jace LaViolette and third baseman Gavin Grahovac , the SEC freshman of the year. In less than 40 hours, Schlossnagle went from coaching A&M in Game 3 to taking awkward photos with Hook ‘Em, the Texas mascot, after his introductory press conference.
In between, he poured a barrel or two of crude oil on the Texas vs. Texas A&M rivalry and shook up the sport’s landscape. Anyone with any lingering doubts about the cutthroat nature of college baseball in 2024 had those beliefs strongly disabused during this process.
There’s a lot to unpack here. To help examine the fallout, let’s consider a few important questions. Here are nine candidates to replace Jim Schlossnagle in College Station.
In Schlossnagle, the Longhorns landed one of the most successful coaches of the 21st century. Athletic director Chris Del Conte snagged his white whale and, by all accounts, one of his closest friends. Schlossna.
