Controversial Jim Schlossnagle move jolted Texas-Texas A&M college football feud

Controversial Jim Schlossnagle move jolted Texas-Texas A&M college football feud

Well that escalated quickly.

The news that the Texas Longhorns were hiring Jim Schlossnagle as its new baseball coach might not seem earth shattering on its face. Schlossnagle is a decorated college coach who has taken multiple schools to the College World Series. Texas is, almost inarguably, the best college baseball coaching job in the country, with more College World Series appearances than any other program and six national titles to boot.

Yet the courtship of Schlossnagle was hardly a traditional, "good coach heads to a better program," story, specifically because of where he was coming from: Schlossnagle has spent the past three seasons with the Texas A&M Aggies, a school so steeped in Longhorns hatred that a majority of its fight song is dedicated to hating its "neighbor" school in Austin.

It's not just that Schlossnagle -- typically referred to simply as Coach Schloss in college baseball circles -- left Aggieland for the 40 Acres, either. He did so just hours after A&M lost a potential national title in the final game of the College World Series to a fellow SEC high-rising program, the Tennessee Volunteers. The Aggies were a game away, were thwarted from the first title in program history, heard their coach give an impassioned defense of his position as A&M coach in a postgame interview, then got off a plane from Omaha to learn that their coach was already en route to Austin.

Just how forceful was Schlossnagle in shutting down questions about a potential move to Austin in the aftermath of the CWS loss? Here was his response:

Here's how Schlossnagle, let's be honest, gaslighted those comments two days later:

So much for SEC good feelings.

What has really antagonized Aggies fans about Schlossnagle's move is that it reinforces the perception of A&M being UT's "little brother" in the state. When the Aggies left the Big XII for the SEC 13 years ago, they did so to strike out on their own and escape Texas' sizable shadow, particularly when it came to in-state recruiting. The move worked (finding a gem in Johnny Manziel didn't hurt), and Texas A&M's trajectory was arguably more promising than Texas' for much of the past decade.

Then the Longhorns hired Steve Sarkisian, who has instituted the kind of program building root and branch reform in Austin that Mack Brown once instituted en route to a national title and perennial top-5 rankings. Simultaneously, Jimbo Fisher was working his way to becoming one of the highest-priced flameouts in college football history in College Station.

And wouldn't you know it: the Longhorns are back in the same league immediately after their first College Football Playoff berth, with high expectations for 2024. Plenty of room for salt in the wound, as Texas football alums were quick to point out on social media:

There's really no precedent for this kind of poaching behavior between Texas and Texas A&M in the past. Yes, legendary college football coach Dana X. Bible did lead both the Longhorns and Aggies, but did so with a stop at Nebraska in between. This is like Luis Figo leaving Barcelona for Real Madrid. When he did that he was met with full pigs heads being thrown at him from the stands.

Schlossnagle might want to brace himself for a similar reception in College Station next spring. The fans are extremely salty. It's likely some A&M players will follow Schlossnagle and his entire staff, which is coming with him to the 40 Acres.

And before then, we'll get a Thanksgiving weekend football game in College Station which just became an absolutely epic grudge match five months before kickoff. Plenty of time to get your popcorn ready.