Lane Kiffin chimes in on Texas A&M, Jim Schlossnagle after acrimonious ending in College Station
The final chapter of Jim Schlossnagle’s time as the Texas A&M head coach will not be a fond one in College Station, despite leading the Aggies to the brink of a national championship. That’s just what happens when you bolt for the Texas job the next day, though.
And compounding Schlossnagle’s public relations issues on Tuesday after news broke he’d be heading to lead the Longhorns were his comments on Monday night after the loss. Then, Schlossnagle bristled at a question about the Texas job and dressed down the reporter while making it clear the Texas A&M job was the one he wanted.
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After not living up to those words less than 24 hours later, Kayce Smith of Barstool Sports took to social media to air her grievances with Schlossnagle for lying and then leaving the next day. It was Smith’s video that gave Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin his opening to respond, and perhaps rub a little salt in the Texas-sized wound for the Aggies.
“Very fair way to feel,” Kiffin said. “Fair points of how you feel lied to and cheated on. I’m sorry for your loss.”
Smith, seemingly getting in on the tongue-in-cheek reply, shot back a simple “Thank you, Lane” as both included a heart emoji.
And because the SEC has gone to a division-less format, Kiffin and his Ole Miss squad aren’t going to be seeing the Aggies in 2024, giving plenty of time for the slight to simmer. Or perhaps it will just be forgotten, as Aggies have bigger gripes, and will surely not forget what Schlossnagle did any time soon, or perhaps ever.
More on the Schlossnagle move
No matter what answer Schlossnagle landed on, his decision to leave College Station was bound to have profound ripples across college baseball. And Schlossnagle, who on Monday saw his team miss a national championship by one win, is widely regarded as one of the best coaches in college baseball, meaning it would be a coup for whichever team ended up with him.
Reports emerged during the 2024 Men’s College World Series that Texas would be moving on from long-serving head coach David Pierce and that the Longhorns would try to poach the highly-successful head coach from one of Texas’ biggest rivals. The Longhorns eventually moved on Pierce days before Schlossnagle made it official that he’d be heading to Austin.
With the Texas job open shortly after the Aggies’ season ended, Schlossnagle was asked about potentially being in consideration there.
“I think it’s pretty selfish of you to ask me that question, to be honest with you,” Schlossnagle said following the game. “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. That would be like you asking [Braden] Montgomery if he’s going to sign in the draft. But I understand you gotta ask the question, but I gave up a big part of my life to come take this job and I’ve poured every ounce of my soul in this job and I’ve given this job every single ounce I can possibly give it. Write that.”
With Schlossnagle choosing to take the Texas job, the Aggies are now in a lurch to hire a new head coach to try and sustain the level of national success that Schlossnagle helped usher in. Texas, on the other hand, is hopeful Schlossnagle can keep Texas on the level of not only making it to Omaha, but winning national championships in baseball.