Jim Schlossnagle Not Phased Ahead of Reunion vs. Texas A&M Aggies

It's been 10 long months since the Texas Longhorns acquired head coach Jim Schlossnagle from the Texas A&M Aggies. But in just a few days, he will have to face his past when the rival Aggies make a visit to Austin for this weekend's series.

Schlossnagle spent his prior three seasons in College Station and took Texas A&M to two College World Series appearances in 2022 and 2024. He held a combined 135-62 record with the program and departed after their most successful season yet, going 53-17 and nearly claiming a national championship.

The chaos that ensued following Schlossnagle's decision to leave Texas A&M immediately after losing to Tennessee in the College World Series last spring is undoubtedly something that will be revitalized this Friday.

Texas Longhorns head coach Jim Schlossnagle leaves the field after talking to officials ahead of the game against Dartmouth at UFCU Disch-Falk Field on Friday, Feb. 21, 2025. | Aaron E. Martinez/American-Statesman / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

However, when asked about the upcoming series, Schlossnagle said that the rivalry will bring an emotional weekend, but showed no signs of sentiment himself.

"Those kind of series Texas and Texas A&M, those things are way bigger than any coach or any person or player," Schlossnagle said during post game interviews on Saturday. "That's been going on for a really long time, and certainly going to be going on long after all of us in this room are gone. I'm sure it will be a great time."

Schlossnagle isn't the only former Aggie turned Longhorn in the dugout. Graduate student and first baseman Kimble Schuessler spent his freshman year at Texas A&M before transferring to Texas for the 2022 season, and he now stands as one of few veteran Longhorns to have played against Schlossnagle's team.

Despite the anticipation that the rest of Longhorn nation feels going into the weekend, Schuessler described how him and his teammates are focused on Tuesday's matchup against the Texas State Bobcats rather than looking ahead.

"We have an opening day on Tuesday. I know y'all have heard that a lot, but we treat every day like opening day," Schuessler said. "We take it one game at a time."

The nonchalant attitudes from Texas are warranted seeing as the Longhorns are having the best start to a season since 2004 under Schlossnagle, standing firm at No. 1 in the D1Baseball rankings with a 33-5 record so far.

Texas has yet to drop an SEC series, but Texas A&M will only be too happy to change that. Although they currently have a losing record in conference matchups, the Aggies are hot off a series win in Fayetteville over the No. 2 Arkansas Razorbacks, raising the stakes of this weekend's matchup even more.

The Lone Star Showdown will kick off on Friday at 7 p.m. CT in Austin and will be broadcasted on the SEC Network.