Jim Schlossnagle tapped as Texas baseball coach, apologizes for reprimanding Texas A&M reporter

Jim Schlossnagle was officially introduced as Texas’ head baseball coach on Wednesday.

He spent much of that introduction offering apologies.

Most notably, Schlossnagle apologized to reporter Richard Zane, whom he had reprimanded two days earlier for asking a standard question.

In case you missed it, Schlossnagle scolded Zane on Monday when Zane asked him about his future. Zane popped the question shortly after Schlossnagle’s then-team Texas A&M lost a winner-take-all Game 3 to Tennessee for the College World Series national championship.

This was Schlossnagle’s answer to Zane’s question:

“I took the job at Texas A&M never to take another job again and that hasn’t changed in my mind.” – Jim Schlossnagle last night after the College World Series

Reportedly, he just accepted the job in Texas 😅

(through @nicolegriff_)photo.twitter.com/GMXEXYFdgs

— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) June 25, 2024

“I think it’s kind of selfish of you to ask me that question, honestly,” Schlossnagle said. “But I left my family to become a coach at Texas A&M. I took the job at Texas A&M to never take another job. And that hasn’t changed in my mind. It’s unfair to talk about something like that. …

“I understand you have to ask the question. But I gave up a huge part of my life to take this job, and I put every ounce of my soul into this job. And I gave this job every ounce that I could give. Write that down.”

Schlossnagle joins rival Texas, apologizes

Less than 24 hours later, Schlossnagle left Texas A&M after three seasons to take the head coaching job at rival Texas. On Wednesday, Schlossnagle faced the media for the first time as Texas’ head coach. He apologized to Zane.

“I want to publicly apologize to Richard Zane of Tex Ags,” Schlossnagle said. “He’s a young reporter. He asked the obvious question. I wish I could have answered it better. But at that moment — 30 minutes after the last pitch — all I could think about was our players.

“I really wasn’t in the mood to talk about myself or the future. So I apologize to Richard for that.”

Zane wasn’t the only one to receive an apology from Schlossnagle. The former Aggies coach also apologized for not meeting with his former players about his decision to leave to coach their rivals.

“It was obviously very difficult,” Schlossnagle said. “There are a lot of times in life where you can’t choose the timing. You can’t meet your team the way you want to. I’m sorry for that.”

Jim Schlossnagle flashes a hook 'em sign, two days after coaching Texas A&M to the College World Series. (AP Photo/Eric Gay) — Jim Schlossnagle flashes a hook ’em sign, two days after coaching Texas A&M to the College World Series. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Schlossnagle on whether he ‘misled’ Texas A&M supporters

Schlossnagle was then asked by Olin Buchanan, a colleague of Zane’s at Texas Ags, what he would say to Texas A&M supporters who felt he had “intentionally misled” them by saying he would “never” leave Texas A&M.

This is what Schlossnagle had to say:

Nice question from @olinbuchanan on whether Jim Schlossnagle was involved with the Texas A&M program (post-game comments) and what changed during that particular time period.

I wish these guys would just state the obvious photo.twitter.com/CAerGL5Bcm

—Trey Wallace (@TreyWallace_) June 26, 2024

“I didn’t intentionally mislead them,” Schlossnagle said. “That’s a perfectly fair question to ask, because that’s what I said. That’s exactly how I felt at the time.”

Schlossnagle then addressed his earlier decision to leave TCU for his job at Texas A&M before directly addressing the question.

“If I had left Texas A&M for another school in another part of the country, the interesting texts and messages I got yesterday probably wouldn’t have happened,” he continued. “But I get it.

“You can’t ask your fans to be supportive and passionate like the 12th Man has always been, but really was this year. … You can’t ask that like me and our staff did and then expect everyone to be OK with a coach going to the rival school. And I get it.

“All I can say is I have a career. I have a personal life. I have goals. I just felt like — no negatives at A&M — just the positives of working together and honestly my relationship with (Texas athletic director) Chris (Del Conte). … As hard as that decision was, I couldn’t turn my back on it.”

After all this, Schlossnagle stepped outside with the Texas cheerleaders to fire Smokey the Cannon.

Consider the page officially turned.

Schlossnagle won’t have to wait long to face his former program, fans and players. Texas will join Texas A&M in the SEC next season.