AUSTIN, Texas — Jim Schlossnagle is ready to lead the University of Texas into what he considers the “major leagues” of college baseball, the Southeastern Conference.
The newly hired coach of the Longhorns is also well aware of the raw feelings left behind at Texas A&M in the wake of his abrupt departure for an archrival.
Texas introduced Schlossnagle at a news conference on campus Wednesday, less than 48 hours after he coached Texas A&M as the Aggies lost to Tennessee in the decisive third game of the College World Series finals.
Schlossnagle, a 53-year-old Maryland native, remains within the Lone Star State, but he has headed 100 miles west from College Station to Austin to lead a program that will face Texas A&M on a regular basis with the Longhorns moving from the Big 12 to the SEC next season.
SEC teams have won the past five national championships in NCAA Division I baseball, and the Aggies taking on Tennessee marked the third time in four years that the College World Series concluded with an all-SEC matchup in the best-of-three finals. The exception during that run came in the 2022 CWS finals, when the SEC’s Ole Miss swept Big 12 program Oklahoma — which, like Texas, is about to move from that conference to the SEC.