The shocking college baseball news that Texas has hired Texas A&M head coach Jim Schlossnagle to replace David Pierce came one day after the Aggies fell to Tennessee in the College World Series championship game. The coach made headlines afterward for saying that he "took the job at Texas A&M to never take another job again."

However, it seems that the opportunity to coach the Longhorns was simply too good for Schlossnagle to pass on.

Schlossnagle will be the sixth coach to don the burnt orange since 1911. Here are five things to know about the new Texas baseball coach.

Schlossnagle has a stacked résumé

Schlossnagle began his coaching career at UNLV in 2002, where he impressed by leading the team to a 47–17 record in his second season. UNLV won the Mountain West Conference and even made the NCAA regionals, putting him on the radar for TCU to swoop in and snatch him.

He spent 18 years with the Horned Frogs, reaching the College World Series five times and being named Baseball America's national coach of the year in 2016. The Horned Frogs won the Big 12 three times under Schlossnagle and had a 734–343 record during his time there.

His success led to him landing the Texas A&M job, despite TCU's attempt to keep him. In Schlossnagle's three years with the Aggies, he took them to Omaha twice, finishing runner-up to the national champions Tennessee this season.

Schlossnagle's history with Chris Del Conte

Texas athletic director Chris Del Conte worked with Schlossnagle from 2009-17 before Del Conte moved to Austin. They have had a friendship for awhile, which was part of the reason for the predictions that Texas would land the A&M coach.

While they worked together, TCU was supremely successful as a baseball program. Del Conte extended Schlossnagle's contract and reportedly played a role in keeping him with the Horned Frogs for as long as he was there. The initial report from 247Sports said that the two's friendship was instrumental in Texas hiring Schlossnagle.

Del Conte talked about their relationship in an article by the Battalion, Texas A&M's student newspaper: “We would just talk about our lives, talk about our families, talk about everything but sports. Some days in the game, the game gets so all-consuming that you don’t have an outlet to talk about anything else besides the game,” he said.

Pitching help?

First on the list of things that Texas needs is pitching help. Despite Pierce taking on the role of pitching coach in 2024, the team's overall ERA rose to 4.91 — its worst mark since 1999. Not all of that was Pierce's fault, but he was shown to not be the solution as well.

A&M had the fourth-best ERA in the country. While Schlossnagle can't take all the credit, he has a history with arms. One of his first jobs after his playing career was as Clemson's pitching coach in 1993. That year, seven Tigers pitchers were drafted.

It'll take the requisite talent, but perhaps some Schlossnagle magic could get the Longhorns' pitching staff back in form.

Schlossnagle was a multi-sport athlete

Schlossnagle grew up in Smithsburg, Md., where he actually prioritized basketball and football over the sport that would eventually become his life.

As a starting guard for the Smithsburg High School Leopards, Schlossnagle led his team to the school's first-ever state championship. He also played football, though he decided in the end to walk-on to Elon University's baseball team once he graduated high school.

That was the path that led him to Austin.

Schlossnagle should be media savvy

Before he pursued his coaching career, Schlossnagle actually thought about becoming a journalist. He was the editor for his high school paper and was a stringer for The Herald-Mail. However, once he decided to pursue coaching, Schlossnagle gave up his journalism career in order to pursue a bachelor's in physical education.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: What to know about new Texas baseball coach Jim Schlossnagle