Jim Schlossnagle May Have Named His Successor While Aggies' 'Acting Coach' Last Week

Texas athletic director Chris Del Conte and freshly former Texas A&M baseball coach Jim Schlossnagle would have you believe that they had no serious talks about Schlossnagle becoming Texas' new coach until after A&M lost the national title to Tennessee on Monday night at the College World Series.

"No. There were no bare-bones discussions," Schlossnagle said Wednesday at a press conference in Austin when asked if there were any talks between himself and Del Conte during the regular season or postseason about becoming Texas' coach after the season.

"But Chris and I talk all the time," he added. When Schlossnagle coached TCU from 2004-21, Del Conte was his athletic director from 2009-17.

OPINION: All Jim Schlossnagle Did Was Enter The NCAA Coaching Transfer Portal

So, in less than 24 hours, Schlossnagle was able to finagle his decision and that of all three of his assistant coaches and their families - Nolan Cain, Max Weiner and Michael Earley - to suddenly take the Texas coaching job?

Former Texas A&M baseball coach Jim Schlossnagle likely knew he would soon be Texas' baseball coach over the final weeks of the 2024 season. (Getty Images)

There is no way.

Schlossnagle agreed to become Texas' coach most likely three weeks ago. And there's nothing wrong with that. Coaches have often coached their teams knowing they were in their last season with that team, while the players did not know that. And sometimes, including in Schlossnagle's situation, they likely coach their teams better over that span. Because this is it. They can see the light at the end of the tunnel, even if the path there has been great. This is a chance to knowingly leave your final mark in a blaze of glory.

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Jim Harbaugh just did that. He led Michigan to its first national championship in football since 1997 last season and first solo title since 1948. If he didn't know he was going to soon become the Los Angeles Chargers coach, he knew he would be a head coach in the NFL somewhere this year. In the 2007 season, LSU defensive coordinator Bo Pelini worked for several weeks with everyone knowing he would be Nebraska's head coach immediately after the national championship game, which LSU won by beating Ohio State 38-24. Pelini's defense was excellent in that game, helping provide a 31-10 lead in the third quarter. He coached LSU's defense by day and recruited for Nebraska by night. 

News Flash: Coaches can multi-task. Schlossnagle got his team within seven outs of A&M's first national championship in a major sport since 1939 despite multiple key injuries and less overall talent and pitching depth than Tennessee. He should be national coach of the year. Not national jerk of the year. He did this knowing he would be Texas' coach, while his players did not.

"It's miserable," Schlossnagle said Wednesday in a slip-up to the story he at first had you try to believe. "It's miserable."

That was a tell that he knew long before the story that he and Del Conte are trying to sell - that this didn't go down until after the Texas A&M-Tennessee game. How can not telling your players for only a night or so after the season ends be "miserable?" Schlossnagle was saying it was "miserable" to keep that secret for three weeks.

Jim Schlossnagle: The Mult-Tasking Coach Of The Year

Still, that should be commended, unless he was recruiting for Texas while Texas A&M's coach. Some Texas A&M people believe he did, but also some Texas A&M people are really mad he left them for, of all places, hated Texas. Schlossnagle may be one of the best multi-task coaches ever because of his ability to still get on the cusp of a national title with his eyes on Texas.

Another tell that Schlossnagle knew he was leaving Texas A&M well before he actually did happened after his Aggies beat Florida, 6-0, on June 19. That win put the Aggies in their first-ever national championship series in baseball, and the win was a school record third in Omaha after seven previous trips - six before the Schlossnagle Era.

Florida upset No. 6 seed Clemson at Clemson in the Super Regional round to reach the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska, this season. (Getty Images)

Without a question about Florida coach Kevin O'Sullivan, Schlossnagle interjected O'Sullivan, or Sully, into the press conference.

"I want to make sure (that you know about) Florida - what Sully did with his club," Schlossnagle said. "Coming from 13-17 to playing in the Final Four in the country."

ANALYSIS: Florida Survived Rough Regular Season And Willie Mays-Like Catch

The Gators finished 13-17 for a seventh-place tie in the SEC and were 28-27 overall before getting an NCAA bid. O'Sullivan proceeded to go 8-2 in the NCAA postseason before elimination by Texas A&M in the College World Series semifinals in perhaps one of his greatest seasons as a coach. And there have been many great ones.

"Florida is the program that at Texas A&M, we're trying to emulate," Schlossnagle waxed on. "State school that continues to build from really good high school players on top of high school players and cherry pick the portal, and not have to rely on the transfer portal so much. Florida, to me, is the epitome of what every program should look to be."

Wow. Schlossnagle was basically recommending O'Sullivan to replace him.

"It doesn't shock me," Schlossnagle continued. "Death, taxes, and Florida in Omaha is pretty much things you can count on."

If Texas doesn't work out for Schlossnagle, maybe he could be O'Sullivan's agent.

Kevin O'Sullivan Would Be Great Hire For Aggies

But he's right. What an excellent choice O'Sullivan would be for A&M. If someone from Texas A&M is not in Gainesville, Florida, right now, or at some other spot in between there and College Station, the Aggies are messing up.

O'Sullivan, 55, won Florida's first national championship in baseball in 2017. He has also finished second twice - last year and in 2011. He has reached the College World Series semifinals another three times (2015, ‘18 and ’24). He has taken Florida to Omaha nine times since taking over in 2008. He has won six SEC regular seasons titles.

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He is either the best coach out there or close to it. LSU was about to hire him after the 2021 season, but some disturbing off-field issues came to light. There were rumors of him having an affair with a married woman. That is what the Texas A&M fans who stuck their heads in the Gators' dugout were taunting him about during a 3-2 loss to the Aggies on June 15 at the World Series. Texas also considered him before hiring Schlossnagle.

Considering his past off the field in Gainesville, O'Sullivan would love a change of scenery - even if it is College Station. And remember, Florida fans have never supported their great and consistent baseball program anywhere close to how schools like A&M and LSU do. O'Sullivan makes about the same salary as Schlossnagle did at Texas A&M. This would be an easy move.

There are other strong candidates out there for Texas A&M, such as Kentucky coach Nick Mingione, 45, Dallas Baptist coach Dan Heefner, 46, and Oklahoma coach Skip Johnson, 57.

But O'Sullivan could take on Schlossnagle and make Texas A&M people proud they have Sully and not Schlossy.

This could happen, and it should happen. O'Sullivan has done enough pennance.

And it would be so SEC. Texas A&M loses its coach to new SEC member Texas, which acts like it's been in the league since the 1940s, and A&M steals a coach from fellow SEC member Florida.

And where would Florida go?

Kentucky.

And so it goes.

And how cool would it be if O'Sullivan goes to A&M and takes the Aggies to Omaha? And those idiot Aggie fans - in this case that's redundant - who taunted O'Sullivan over his dugout were not allowed to go. Karma can be cool.