David Pierce the head coach set to be David Pierce the pitching coach for the 2024 Longhorns

On July 25 after the Texas Longhorns saw their 2023 campaign end in the Palo Alto Super Regional in heartbreaking fashion, Texas head coach David Pierce announced a staff reorganization. The notable change was relieving Woody Williams of his duties as pitching coach.

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Williams’ replacement? David Pierce.

Ahead the first day of organized team practice ahead of the 2024 season, the Longhorns’ final as a member of the Big 12, Pierce explained why he decided to take over and place pitching coach responsibilities on himself ahead of his eighth season at the reins in Austin.

“I think it adds another dimension to our offensive style to where I can use (assistant coach Steve Rodriguez) in the short game, we can use Rod in baserunning,” Pierce said. “It adds another offensive coach. I feel like when you’ve got a guy like (coordinator of pitching and hitting development) Chris Gordon, who is really good at the analytics and very good with the day-to-day setup and prep, I couldn’t do it without him. I couldn’t do it without somebody that can go in and kind of set the stage and have all the prep done and then I can coach.

“I just think having two guys in those specific roles makes sense, and I just don’t have the ability to get out of pitching. It can be combative at times just because I’m in the middle of it, and I’ve done it for a long time so I kind of know what I want to see and what to expect.”

Pierce will oversee a staff that returns a considerable amount of production and promise from the 2023 campaign, namely Lebarron Johnson and Tanner Witt.

Johnson, the 2024 Big 12 preseason pitcher of the year, was 8-4 in 20 appearances last season with a 2.91 ERA and a 1.28 WHIP. Despite his projectable frame and excellent fastball, Johnson went undrafted in the 2023 MLB draft and announced his return to Texas in the summer.

Witt, who missed most of the 2022 season and a significant portion of the 2023 campaign recovering from Tommy John, had an up and down season last year. But Pierce said Witt looked “outstanding” in recent weeks, and along with Charlie Hurley, provides Texas with a formidable weekend trio that remains subject to change.

“Charlie’s completely different right now,” Pierce said. “He came in as a transfer and put a lot of pressure on himself. Look’s different, he’s a different guy. Lebarron wanted to be a first-rounder. He’s very motivated. Tanner, same thing where he just wasn’t ready to go out based on where he was and he wasn’t willing to give in.

“We were fortunate to get all three of those. It feels good to know that you have not necessarily a set rotation, but you have guys you can trust to put out there.”

Other options in the starting rotation Pierce mentioned include right-hander Cody Howard plus lefties Luke Harrison and Chase Lummus.

A player who could be a part of not just the starting rotation but fill a number of other roles in the bullpen is David Shaw. A 6-foot-7 lefty who had Tommy John but of the more minor variety that uses an “internal brace” to repair the UCL, Shaw was someone Pierce said he could utilize to start games, deploy in the middle innings, or bring in during the late stages of contests.

“He’s reliable,” Pierce said. “He’s different. He’s not going to wow you with big velo but he creates a lot of deception and pounds the zone.”

Pierce spoke about giving pitchers more clearly defined roles ahead of the 2024 season. Practically, he talked about having six-inning starters, two-inning middle relief guys, and one-inning stoppers/closer, give or take a few thirds of an inning. He’s started sorting players into those categories already, something that he believes can help young pitchers who might have loftier career aspirations find success in defined roles.

“I’ve got some guys right now where all I need them to do is get three outs,” Pierce said. “I’m trying to get their minds very clear. That’s my job. Quicker we do that, the better I think we’ll be.”

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The decision to move to pitching coach puts whether Pierce will be the Longhorns third base coach into question. Pierce himself didn’t know the answer to that on Friday.

Though that’s up in the air, control over the pitching staff is not.

“I’m just a baseball guy, and at the end of the day that’s how I look at it,” Pierce said of his decision.