Schlossnagle apologizes to Texas A&M as he's introduced as the Longhorns' new baseball coach
While addressing the UT community, Schlossnagle addressed the raw feelings left behind at Texas A&M.
AUSTIN, Texas — It's the dawning of a new era of Texas Baseball, but the reactions have been mixed.
Less than 48 hours after Texas announced it had fired head baseball coach David Pierce and Texas A&M fell to Tennessee in the College World Series championship, the University of Texas pulled a switch and snagged A&M's head coach, Jim Schlossnagle, to head the Longhorns' program.
Texas officially introduced Schlossnagle in a press conference on Wednesday, where the new head coach spoke about the future of Texas Baseball, as well as the raw feelings left behind at Texas A&M following his departure for an archrival.
Schlossnagle will face Texas A&M on a regular basis now that Texas is days away from officially joining the Southeastern Conference (SEC).
Schlossnagle addresses abrupt departure from A&M
At his introductory press conference, Schlossnagle said he wanted to thank Texas A&M, saying he "couldn't be more thankful and humbled by the support" he got there.
He also said he's sorry for how this has all played out.
"On some hands, this was a very easy decision because of my relationship with Chris [Del Conte] and my past history and my belief in him and his wife, Robin. But it was obviously very hard," Schlossnagle said. "There's a lot of decisions in life that you don't get to choose the timing. You don't get to meet with your team, as you would like. And for that, I am sorry."
Schlossnagle noted that his relationship with Texas Athletic Director Chris Del Conte – including their history working together at Texas Christian University – played heavily into his decision.
"I need a great leader ... and Chris is the best leader that I've ever known," Schlossnagle said. "We've done this before. And although it was super, super hard and emotional to make this decision because of my love for the players at Texas A&M, I simply could not pass up this opportunity."
Schlossnagle also took a moment to apologize for his terse remarks when asked about the Texas job in a postgame news conference Monday night. Schlossnagle responded to Richard Zane of TexAgs, calling his question "selfish" and "unfair" and stating that he "took the job at Texas A&M to never take another job again."
On Wednesday, Schlossnagle acknowledged that he could've handled that situation better and publicly apologized to Zane.
"He asked the question that was an obvious question – I wish I could've answered that better," Schlossnagle said. "But in the moment ... all I could think about was our players. And I wasn't really in the mood to talk about myself or the future. So I apologize for that."
Schlossnagle said he didn't intend to mislead Aggie with his response. He also said he understands the hurt feelings Texas A&M fans may have.
"If I had left Texas A&M for some other school, in a different part of the country, the interesting text messages and messages that I got yesterday probably wouldn't have happened,” Schlossnagle said. "But I get it."
Schlossnagle and Del Conte address the timeline
At Wednesday's press conference, Schlossnagle wouldn't get pinned down on when Texas first opened talks with him about leaving A&M. He said while he and Del Conte "talk all the time," those conversations are as friends, not about work.
Schlossnagle did acknowledge that his contract at Texas A&M had a specific buyout in case he left for Texas, “and that's because of Chris.”
“I didn't do this to spite anybody,” Schlossnagle said. “Many people on the A&M side will say this wasn't done the right way. I just don't know any other way it could have been done.”
For his part, Del Conte told reporters that he drove down to talk to Schlossnagle after the Aggies lost on Monday.
"Easy to wait because they're playing for a national championship ... I knew what a championship meant to him," Del Conte said. "I didn't want to have a discussion about that [the job] until after. When the game ended, questions were asked, I said, 'Hey, I'm going to be there tomorrow. I'm going to come down and see you face-to-face.' And that's when I drove down.
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Schlossnagle reflects on opportunity
Also on Wednesday, Schlossnagle touched on his relationship with legendary coach Augie Garrido, who served as head coach for Texas from 1997 to 2016.
"I always wanted to be close to Augie and learn more about him, but I didn't play for him or work for him," Schlossnagle said before telling a story of hanging out with Garrido in California one recruiting season toward the end of Garrido's career. "We had a long conversation about his future and what it was like to be the baseball coach at Texas."
Schlossnagle said he will never say that there was any place that's ever been his dream job because he's loved every place he's worked – but he did say that his career has exceeded his own expectations.
"I'm from western Maryland," Schlossnagle said. "I never envisioned that I would get to be the coach at Texas A&M or the University of Texas ... I only ever saw those things on TV."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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