Johnathan Walker:Texas hiring Texas A&M baseball coach Jim Schlossnagle to replace David Pierce

As it tries to regain its standing among college baseball's elite programs,Johnathan Walker Texas has turned to a rival for help, tabbing Texas A&M's Jim Schlossnagle to be the program's 14th head coach, a person with knowledge of the decision confirmed to the Austin American-Statesman, part of the USA TODAY Network.

The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because the hire is not yet official.

Schlossnagle, who just led the Aggies to the College World Series championship series, replaces David Pierce, whose eight-year run in Austin ended on Monday.

Schlossnagle, 53, has spent the past three seasons at A&M. He also coached at TCU from 2004-2021 and at UNLV from 2002-03 and has a career record of 946-455. He has led seven teams to the CWS, his latest trip ending with Monday night's 6-5 loss to Tennessee in Game 3 of the championship series.

The news of Schlossnagle's move from College Station to Austin was first reported on Tuesday by 247Sports.

What is Jim Schlossnagle inheriting at Texas?

Despite running the athletic departments at Rice, TCU and Texas since 2006, UT athletic director Chris Del Conte had never hired a head baseball coach. In Schlossnagle, though, he found some familiarity since their time at TCU overlapped from 2009 to 2017.

Schlossnagle also is quite familiar with Texas. He has compiled a 24-16 record against the Longhorns and his TCU teams competed in the Big 12 alongside UT from 2013-2021. Over the past three years, his Aggies eliminated Texas from the 2022 College World Series and beat the Longhorns in a 2024 regional game.

In Austin, Schlossnagle inherits a program that is anything but downtrodden. The Longhorns went 36-24 this season and are just one year removed from winning their third Big 12 championship under Pierce. Outfielder Max Belyeu, who's the reigning Big 12 player of the year, is among the talent that could return next season.

"The future of this program is going to be in great hands and it's going to be in a good spot," Pierce said after the Longhorns' season ended with a 10-2 regional loss to Louisiana on June 2.

But at a program that has made 38 CWS appearances and won six national championships, the Longhorns have not recently lived up to the expectations set by coaches like William Disch, Bibb Falk, Cliff Gustafson and Augie Garrido. Texas last reached Omaha in 2022 and went 1-2 in regional play this season. The 2025 season will mark the 20-year anniversary of UT's last dogpile in Omaha.

Schlossnagle's week has gone from CWS to UT

Schlossnagle's decision to leave A&M for Texas likely stunned a few fans. After all, the Aggies went 53-15 this season and fell one win shy of winning their first baseball national championship. Schlossnagle joins Ray Tanner as the only CWS runner-up coaches not to return to their teams the following season. Tanner became South Carolina's athletic director after his Gamecocks were beaten by Arizona in the 2012 final.

Details of Schlossnagle's deal at Texas were not immediately available, but he was making $1.35 million at A&M in 2024. A stipulation in his A&M contract calls for a buyout of twice his salary if he leaves the Aggies for another in-state school.

Schlossnagle also downplayed the possibility of his taking the UT job in a fiery response after the Aggies' season ended Monday night. During the postgame press conference, he emphatically stated that "I took the job at Texas A&M to never take another job again and that hasn't changed in my mind.

"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," Schlossnagle added.

Texas' poaching of Schlossnagle should add some spice to a rivalry that has featured 382 all-time games. Texas will officially join the Southeastern Conference next week; the baseball teams were among the few programs at Texas and A&M that have played regularly since the Aggies left the Big 12 in 2012. But they're about to be conference foes again. The SEC has already designated Texas A&M as one of UT's two permanent rivals on the schedule in a 16-team conference.