Jim Schlossnagle was a longtime thorn in Texas' side, so the Longhorns hired him to solve their problem

There’s a benefit to being the University of Texas. If a sports program at an in-state rival causes a problem, the Longhorns can typically just hire the problem away, even from Texas A&M.

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That wasn’t UT athletic director Chris Del Conte‘s main impetus for hiring Jim Schlossnagle away from the Aggies not even 24 hours after A&M finished just short of the 2024 Men’s College World Series championship. Longstanding relationships dating back to 2009 were the main reason why Schlossnagle was hired away from College Station to replace David Pierce.

But one of the many benefits of the hire is that Texas now has a coach in Schlossnagle leading its program that since 2010 has been a major thorn in the Longhorns’ side. That accomplished coach is set to wear burnt orange and unleash the resources of the historic UT baseball program not just in Texas, and not just in an effort to win the SEC, possibly most competitive league in college athletics, but to bring a seventh national championship to the 40 Acres.

TCU baseball had little to boast about before Schlossnagle arrived in 2004. The Horned Frogs won only seven Southwest Conference titles despite fielding a team in over 70 seasons. Much of that had to do with Texas’ dominance of the SWC under Billy Disch, Bibb Falk, and Cliff Gustafson leading a powerhouse Longhorn program to 57 SWC titles.

Schlossnagle built up the Horned Frogs, and the ultimate breakthrough moment came in 2010. One year after falling to top-seeded Texas in game three of the 2009 Austin Super Regional, just one win short of the program’s first-ever College World Series, Schlossnagle’s Horned Frogs gained revenge against Augie Garrido’s No. 2 overall team, defeating Texas 4-1 in game three of the 2010 Austin Super Regional. The lasting image from this series was jubilant TCU players celebrating the program’s first trip to Omaha by dog-piling on the large Longhorn logo behind second base at UFCU Disch-Falk Field.

TCU arguably became the program of the 2010s among college baseball programs from the state of Texas. Not only did Schlossnagle lead TCU to a third-place finish in 2010, but he made return trips to Omaha in 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2017.

He became an even larger thorn in Texas’ side beginning with the 2013 season, when TCU joined the Big 12, a move that was ushered by Del Conte. TCU won regular season titles in 2015, 2017, and 2021 while taking home tournament crowns in 2014, 2016, and 2021. During Schlossnagle’s time at TCU as members of the Big 12, the Horned Frogs were 17-11 against Texas. Texas won only two Big 12 regular season titles in that time, one in 2018 and the other a shared title in 2021.

When Schlossnagle left Fort Worth to replace Rob Childress as head coach of the Aggies, he continued to thwart Texas’ efforts even at the height of the Pierce era. He defeated Texas twice in 2022, including topping the Longhorns in Omaha in an elimination game. It was A&M’s first CWS win in almost 20 years, but more importantly it sent the Longhorns and Ivan Melendez packing.

Texas got one back on Schlossnagle in 2023, but 2024 saw UT’s battles with Schloss tip back in the Maryland native’s favor. Texas lost 9-2 in March at Disch-Falk Field to the Aggies, then fell again to A&M in the College Station regional in an extra-inning thriller in the College Station regional. While Schlossnagle did not deliver the final season-ending loss, that was done by the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns, Texas saw its campaign end in the Aggies’ home park, likely out of gas after losing a heartbreaker to Schlossnagle’s eventual national-runner up.

Overall, Schlossnagle was 21-12 against Texas from 2013 on. The wins weren’t just on the field, but also in portal recruiting and even in some battles on the high school trail. A longtime thorn in Bevo’s side, Schlossnagle built up two programs that were a consistent nuisance to the Longhorns, often outpacing the historic Texas program that believes itself to be the University of Texas at Omaha.

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After 15 years of that, Del Conte made a move similar to what he and several other Texas athletic directors have done over the history of the program: he hired Schlossnagle away from Texas A&M so that he could no longer afflict Texas, but rather afflict others with a burnt orange uniform on.