Texas ready to show off its "blue-collar work ethic at an incredibly white-collar school"

Tuesday’s baseball press conference was both a blessing and a curse for a sports journalist. On one hand, Texas baseball hand-wrapped a presser filled with seven different Longhorns taking the stand as well as head coach Jim Schlossnagle, a whirlpool of information and content.

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On the other hand, walking half a mile in pouring rain just to show up too late for the food spread can leave a sour taste in your mouth throughout the interviews.

But the amount of water clinging to the back of my raincoat was far from the most important points made ahead of some of the final practice sessions for the Longhorns ahead of their season opener. With so much access, Inside Texas got a firsthand look at not only what players are saying about the team, but also how they’re acting.

This was my first time hearing from Jim Schlossnagle since his introductory press conference and I see why he wins…

Schloss says the team has developed an "unbelievable blue collar work ethic at an incredibly white collar school"#HookEm | #Texas

Question from… pic.twitter.com/MlRAyuCCS4

— Cory Mose (@Cory_Mose) February 11, 2025

Body language and facial expressions can tell a lot about a character, and Texas baseball couldn’t have sent out a better representative of the culture than LHP Luke Harrison to kick off the presser. If there’s any player that wouldn’t have a reason to be all smiles, it would be Harrison. The lefty has been plagued with injuries his entire career, forcing him to miss the 2023 season and rushing him into an earned run-ridden 2024 season.

But Harrison looked like the happiest man on the planet yesterday when talking about getting the chance to play with his ball club, this time at full strength.

“I feel as healthy as ever,” Harrison said. “It’s been a long process for me. A lot of it was mental, some physical, but I’ve been healthy for a long time now and I’m really excited to go show what I can do.”

Harrison quickly turned the attention of the scrum away from himself and more toward the team. He claimed that Texas will “lead the league in fun,” an odd boast but one that continued to unfold as the rest of the players talked about the roster.

Andre Duplantier II spoke at length about a barbecue he and Jalin “Chef J Flo” Flores hosted a few weeks prior. Duplantier has fit well into his role as the “Unc” of the team, using that modern-day lingo to represent his dedication to the team.

“That’s always been something that’s important to me,” Duplantier said about leadership. “When I first got here as a freshman, the older guys took us in. Whenever you come into a place like Texas, whenever the older guys make you feel like this is your home, that meant a lot to me when I was young.”

Sophomore ULM transfer Easton Winfield echoed these ideas.

“Truthfully, I don’t think I’ve been around this big of a group of guys that compete (this hard),” Winfield said. “You come and watch our intersquads and you think we’re rivals out there. We’re battling. We go on the field, and we battle. And then right as practice is over, we’re best friends again. It’s just amazing.”

Winfield entered UT as a big name in the portal, a star at his smaller school who topped many outfield transfer portal rankings. He claims that this team-wide drive is what makes him become a better player every day.

A lot of that has come from his relationship with teammates, specifically talking about his connection with right fielder Max Belyeu, but he also credits coach Jim Schlossnagle.

“I really don’t know his magic behind it,” Winfield said about Schlossnagle’s ability to cultivate a hard-working culture.

Schlossnagle has done something special before a single pitch has even been thrown in the year 2025. Eleven transfers, 12 true freshmen and 17 returners have combined into a fun-loving, hard-working unit in less than one full offseason. It already feels like a Schlossnagle team, which is why these players are so excited about their ceiling.

From listening to the players and Schlossnagle talk, it seems that the answer to Winfield’s query is that Schlossnagle just loves the sport to an obsessive degree. Today wasn’t the first time we heard that Schlossnagle has “no other hobbies” outside of the sport. With his kids grown up, the Texas baseball team sees him all throughout the day.

“Once you get over here with the players, that’s the best,” Schlossnagle said. “That’s the best part of my day. The worst part of my day is leaving here.”

Schlossnagle repeated many of the same sentiments held by Winfield, Harrison, Duplantier, and the rest of the team, but also added what his favorite aspect of their offseason has been. Schloss knows the type of program he’s now coaching at, calling UT a white-collar school and the grandest of all things in college athletics.

Even with that being said, his team has developed an identity: a white-collar appearance with a blue-collar approach. Some of that has to do with his own school in recruiting and development, with players like the gigantic Will Gasparino looking the part as he’s grown into more muscle (after all, Schloss doesn’t believe in small baseball players). Another part of that formula is what the players have done.

“I literally have to take the balls out of the batting cage because these guys want to be here and want to spend time here,” Schlossnagle said. “I think those older players have taught those young players that this is what it looks like to work at Texas. This is our standard of how we work.”

That standard will look to lead Texas into a successful weekend of baseball to start the year. Schlossnagle was very limited about what he said about the team, but did hint at a few ideas about his lineup come Friday night.

• There are two weekend starters he’s already picked, with a third TBD.
• Roughly 11-12 batters have separated themselves from the rest of the pack.
• Max Belyeu is questionable to play with sickness, but he’s been trending positively this week.

Those two starters seem pretty clear, with Jared Spencer and Luke Harrison taking those spots almost assuredly. My money is on either sophomore transfer Kade Bing or freshman Dylan Volantis to start that third and final game against Oklahoma State.

There are also some easy-to-infer guys for that 11-12 batter mark. Texas returns 5 starters (Belyeu, Flores, Galvan, Gasparino and Schuessler) and added two major portal names (Mendoza and Winfield). Those remaining four to five guys have two locks in my opinion, freshman phenom Adrian Rodriguez and returning rotational infielder Casey Borba. Those two will likely start at 3rd and DH. If I had to guess those last three spots, I’d say speedster Tommy Farmer (likely the Belyeu replacement if he is out), backup catcher Oliver Service and freshman Cole Chamberlain, who was a star in the alumni game. Jaquae Stewart, Jayden Duplantier, and Matthew Scott II are also names to watch.

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Texas will kick off the season this Friday at 7 p.m. against Louisville, playing under the bright lights of Globe Life Field in the Shriners Children’s College Showdown.