Jim Schlossnagle defends misleading statements about Texas, responds to angry A&M fans

Following Texas A&M‘s loss to Tennessee, there was a question posed to Jim Schlossnagle about his future. He responded by saying he joined the Aggies to never take another job, potentially implying he would be staying moving forward. Less than 24 hours later, he was officially announced as Texas’ head coach, leaving for the in-state rivals.

Schlossnagle was asked about the “misleading” comments made following the CWS Finals game, saying he did not intentionally guide Texas A&M fans down the wrong path. He compared the situation to leaving TCU just a few years ago, saying joining Texas was what’s best for him.

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“Well, I didn’t intentionally mislead them,” Schlossnagle said during his introductory press conference. “And that’s a very fair question for you to ask because that is what I said. In that moment, that’s exactly how I felt… I loved TCU, my children grew up there, Fort Worth, I was there 18 years. It had to be a very unique situation for me to leave that at 50 years old.

“I hope I get to coach here for a long time but I don’t really have any plans on coaching to 75, 78 years old. So, I made that choice because it aligned both personally and professionally with what I had going on at the time.”

While Schlossnagle said he and Texas AD Chris Del Conte met for the first time on Tuesday, reports indicated this move had been in the works in late April. Texas A&M was in the midst of the regular season before making their deep postseason run, one those in College Station will never forget.

But they are likely to question where Schlossnagle’s head was at, especially during the CWS Finals, if the Texas job was in the back of his mind. Schlossnagle denied being distracted and says he gave everything in the national championship run until the final out.

“I dove in with every single ounce of me to help A&M have the very best baseball program it could possibly have,” Schlossnagle said. “That investment lasted through the last pitch of the national championship game. It never wavered, one second, I don’t care what anybody says. As Chris likes to say, we have jobs and try to run a business on other people’s passion.”

Jim Schlossnagle understands Texas A&M fans being upset

Part of a head coach’s job is getting butts into seats and bringing a great atmosphere into your respective stadium. Schlossnagle campaigned hard for Texas A&M to come out and support the baseball program. The 12th Man certainly showed out in 2024, sticking with them from the season opener until the final out in Omaha.

So making the jump over to Texas has to be frustrating for Aggies and Schlossnagle understands. Maybe things would have been different if he left for another job but his destination being the Longhorns causes for a little more sting.

“If I had left Texas A&M for some other school in a different part of the country, the interesting text messages I got yesterday probably wouldn’t have happened,” Schlossnagle said. “But, I get it. You can’t ask for your fan base to support you and be passionate like the 12th Man always has been but really was this year. Our crowds were awesome, every single game. You can’t ask for that like I did and our staff did and then expect everybody to be okay with a coach leaving for its rival school. I get it.”

Ultimately, the trust Schlossnagle seemingly has at Texas was why he made the switch over. Not just with Del Conte but everyone in the athletic department.

“All I can say is — I have a career too. I have a personal life as well that I have goals and I just simply felt like, no negative at A&M, the positives of the alignment. And frankly, my relationship with Chris. There wasn’t anybody at Texas A&M that I couldn’t trust, I just know I can trust Chris. As hard as that decision was, I could not walk away from it.”

Schlossnagle and Del Conte now begin their journey together in Austin after working side by side in Fort Worth. There might not be a more trustworthy relationship in the athletic department than those, hoping to guide the Longhorns to an immense amount of success.