Texas Baseball's Jim Schlossnagle Named SEC Coach of the Year

In his first season in Austin, the skipper led the Longhorns to a regular season conference title.
Sara Diggins/American-Statesman / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Following the end of the 2024 season, the Texas Longhorns found themselves at a crossroads. They'd ended the regular season on a high note, but then were bounced early from the Big 12 Tournament and then eliminated from the NCAA Tournament after winning just one game in the College Station Regional.

They didn't wait long to make a change, though, announcing that David Pierce would not be returning as the head coach. Then they pulled off arguably the best possible hire, bringing Jim Schlossnagle to Austin after luring him away from their bitter rivals, the Texas A&m Aggies.

It didn't take long for Schlossnagle to find success with the Longhorns. In his first season donning the burnt orange and white, he proved his status as one of the game's best en route to the regular season conference title. As a result he was named the SEC Coach of the Year.

Jim Schlossnagl
Texas Baseball coach Jim Schlossnagle watches from the dugout as the Longhorns prepare to take on the Auburn Tigers. | Sara Diggins/American-Statesman / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

While the new era of Longhorns baseball didn't get off to a great start, as they dropped their season opener to the Louisville Cardinals, it was only uphill from there. They bounced back in strong fashion and headed into SEC play red hot, maintaining that momentum and roaring out to a 19-2 record in conference games.

While there were understandably questions about how Schlossnagle would do in his first year at Texas, his track record undoubtedly spoke for itself before he ever set foot in the dugout at UFCU Disch-Falk Field.

Every stop prior to Texas saw him find success. He went 30-30 in his first season at UNLV and then in season two improved that to 47-17 with a regional appearance. From there he moved to TCU, and casually led the Horned Frogs to Omaha five times. His last stop before Austin was of course at Texas A&M, where he took the Aggies to the College World Series twice in three campaigns.

Then in his first season with the Longhorns he led them to a 42-11(22-8) regular season record and a conference championship all while dealing with a plethora of injuries. There's still goals they wish to accomplish, but for now it only makes sense to honor one of the game's best.


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Connor Zimmerlee
CONNOR ZIMMERLEE

Connor Zimmerlee covers Texas Baseball for Texas Longhorns On SI. Zimmerlee received his Bachelor’s of Journalism from the University of Texas at Austin and graduated from Northwestern’s Medill School of Journalism with a Master’s of Science in Journalism with a Specialization in Sports Media.

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