Texas A&M’s Jim Schlossnagle wants a national title ASAP
Texas A&M athletic director Ross Bjork remembers Jim Schlossnagle expressing the ideal factors at his initial Faculty Station information meeting a yr ago this thirty day period. More importantly to the Aggies’ baseball fortunes, Bjork remembers Schlossnagle undertaking the right issues at the exact time.
“Coach walked into the batting facility the initially time, and matters were being kind of disorganized. Extension cords have been hanging down it was just sort of a mess,” Bjork remembered. “And he said, ‘This will be fixed by tomorrow.’ The up coming day he had a visible chart hung up in the batting cages explaining how to put items away.
“It stated, ‘This is where the ball (buckets) go, this is where by the extension cords go, this is how you place the nets up,’ and so forth. That was the subsequent day. He has a significant attention to depth.”
At that exact time, and whilst the Aggies celebrated hiring absent TCU’s celebrated mentor, Schlossnagle was clammily reflecting on his to start with shift in approximately two many years, replacing Rob Childress at A&M. The Maryland indigenous won huge in Fort Well worth — unprecedentedly massive at a plan that was not accustomed to baseball achievements and at a university that treated Schlossnagle, 51, like purple royalty.
“At this stage very last year, I was in the Texas A&M resort and meeting heart waking up continuously at 3:30 in the early morning in a entire system sweat,” stated Schlossnagle, whose very first A&M workforce is making ready for the seventh University Entire world Series in plan background. “Because I had just remaining a spot that was so at ease for (A&M). I hadn’t hired a staff members still and didn’t know the players.
“And I knew we desired a whole lot of new players.”
To declare it has labored out for the Aggies a single calendar year into the Schlossnagle employ the service of is akin to declaring A&M’s leading hitter, Jack Moss at .391, has a very good eye at the plate. It’s much additional than that.
“Schloss and his personnel have carried out a good task of (finding) their young children to believe and participate in the game the ideal way,” stated Dan McDonnell, whose Louisville squad shed both video games of an NCAA Match super regional past weekend at A&M. “I’ve known Schloss for a extensive time, and I have a ton of regard for him. As substantially as it hurts for me, I’m content for him due to the fact I know how tough he will work at this.
“He pours his coronary heart and soul into it.”
The early consequence is A&M (42-18) towards Oklahoma (42-22) in the opening sport of the CWS in Omaha, Neb., at 1 p.m. Friday. A&M could engage in old rival Texas in the second spherical Sunday.
The Aggies performed in the CWS in 1999, 2011 and 2017 but were being a mixed -6 in the double-elimination portion of school baseball’s grandest party.
A&M, which has under no circumstances won a nationwide title, hasn’t received a CWS recreation since 1993, when Mark Johnson ran the application and Schlossnagle was a 22-12 months-old assistant at Clemson. There are a pair of signals, on the other hand, this may possibly be the yr the Aggies lastly break by way of.
The past time they performed in Omaha, they lost to McDonnell’s Cardinals and Schlossnagle’s Horned Frogs to quickly head back south. The two groups A&M removed in a regional and super regional this period? TCU and Louisville.
A&M admirers experienced a loathe/like partnership with Schlossnagle just before his arrival in School Station: They hated that his TCU groups eradicated the Aggies from the NCAA Match in 2012 and, amazingly, from 2015 to 2017, and they would have liked for him to be jogging the show at A&M. Their dream arrived real — and Schlossnagle explained he’s now dwelling his possess dream at a place bananas for baseball.
“It’s been almost everything I could have ever dreamed of when generating the shift,” Schlossnagle claimed. “I’ve claimed extremely publicly how a lot I really like TCU, but this was an magnificent daily life improve for me, the two individually and professionally, and I simply cannot thank our gamers enough for earning the baseball aspect of matters appear legitimate. To be sitting here heading to the College or university Entire world Collection — I know this sounds ‘coachy,’ but each individual single ounce of credit history goes to the gamers.
“All I asked them to do was be selfless, operate their rear finishes off, and just believe. Of course, playing fantastic baseball is part of it.”
The Aggies had a small issues with that final element early on, dropping two of 3 video games against Penn of the Ivy League in the second household sequence of the time in what was shaping up as a prolonged first 12 months. Bjork said he termed Schlossnagle the following Monday.
“I explained to him, ‘Coach, it’s a method. No just one expects anything to truly take place this year. Get the lifestyle and the approach proper, continue to keep recruiting at a significant level and coach these guys up, and which is all you can do,’” Bjork recalled. “He claimed he appreciated that. They bought off to a rough get started, but they in no way panicked.”
A&M, with Schlossnagle’s verified procedure thoroughly engaged by March, won its last 7 SEC collection and gained the West Division for the initially time in application historical past, moving into the NCAA Match as the No. 5 seed.
TCU experienced in no way produced a CWS prior to Schlossnagle’s arrival in 2004 but manufactured five all through his tenure, but he thinks he even now has a good deal to prove at the top rated stage. For all their achievement, the Horned Frogs never ever produced a CWS championship series.
“Coach John Robinson, the Corridor of Fame soccer mentor, instructed me one time, ‘You require to slow down,’ when I was at UNLV, and we experienced a excellent year,” Schlossnagle stated. “But I do not want to sluggish down. I want to gain a national title. And sooner somewhat than later on.”
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