Jim Schlossnagle's hiring could be an aligning of the stars for a Texas takeover | Golden

Jim Schlossnagle, win.

That’s why you were brought here.

“It’s a reckoning,” Texas athletic director Chris Del Conte said Wednesday, pointing to what he believes is a massive takeover of college athletics.

Well, Texas baseball has the dollars, the facilities and the right people calling the shots. All that's left is the winning and Del Conte believes he has landed the biggest coaching fish in the sport. Schlossnagle, 53, led TCU to five College World Series appearances and was within seven outs of getting title-starved Texas A&M its first natty Monday night.

Schlossnagle's introduction Wednesday on the UT campus was a mid-morning party fit for a king. Smokey the Cannon and its handlers were positioned outside the Denius Family Hall of Fame room at the north end zone of Royal-Memorial Stadium. Cheerleaders lined the stairs in front of a giant COACH SCHLOSS neon sign near the entrance. Fellow UT head coaches Steve Sarkisian, Rodney Terry, Vic Schaefer and Angela Kelly were in the building.

Only two days removed from a polarizing exit from Texas A&M, Schlossnagle — who may be the only coach in history to flash the Gig ’em and Hook ’em hand signs within a 24-hour period — began by thanking his predecessors David Pierce, Augie Garrido and Cliff Gustafson, the latter two UT legends who led the program to four of its six national titles.

Texas doesn’t go through baseball coaches in a haphazard desire to get the right mix. Schlossnagle is only the fourth man to head the program in the last 29 years and if Del Conte gets it right, he will return this place to somewhere it hasn’t experienced in 19 seasons.

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Omaha is mandatory at Texas, but winning once you get there is what has made this program one of the bluest of blue bloods. On Wednesday, Schlossnagle recalled that after his TCU team played Texas in 2015 in Fort Worth — the Horned Frogs swept that series — Garrido, who was in his next to last season, approached him during a rain delay.

“I want you to come see me this summer,” Garrido said.

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They met in Southern California in the offseason and talked about baseball over dinner. Augie talked about the responsibilities that came with coaching Texas and the younger coach listened.

It was a meeting similar to the conversation Garrido had with Gustafson when he brought his Cal State Fullerton team to Austin for a weekend series in 1983. Already having won a championship in 1979, Augie still wanted his players to see what a college baseball dynasty looked like up close and personal. And he told me over the years that his conversations with Gustafson during those three games in Austin were invaluable because it helped him know what it would take to win here once he replaced Gus in 1997.

Schlossngale believes Texas will thrive under his watch because the leadership — UT Regents Chairman Kevin Eltife, UT President Jay Hartzell and Del Conte — is united under one goal: to notch titles.

“The alignment is just so important because there’s so much uncertainty,” he said. “And when you have someone like Chris who is at the forefront in the meetings with the decisions that will listen to a coach. … He is a coach’s athletic director. His job is to serve coaches and student-athletes. My job is to serve the student-athletes and Chris has always told me his job is to give the coaches every opportunity to be successful. And I run to that.”

Plotting Texas' return to greatness

Texas is leaving the Big 12 for the SEC and at a quick glance, the athletic department is thriving after having won a third Learfield Directors' Cup in the last four years, though the school has gone nearly two decades without a national title in either football or baseball.

A golden era feels possible and if it’s anything like what Longhorn Nation experienced at the turn of the century, this should be one wild ride.

From 2001 to 2005, Mack Brown’s football team went 56-8, won two Rose Bowls and a national championship. Basketball coaches Rick Barnes and Jody Conradt led their teams to Final Fours in 2003. And then there was Garrido, the late Zen Master who opened the decade of the 2000s with the first of five CWS appearances in six seasons, including national titles in 2002 and 2005 and a runner-up finish in 2004.

“When I was in school here, it was the last time everything was aligned,” said Seth Johnston, a star on Texas' 2005 national champs. “With football, baseball, basketball, women’s soccer and swimming and diving, everything was aligned for that period of time. So he hit the nail on the head.”

Johnston was one of the players present Wednesday who were part of UT's baseball dominance during the Gus and Augie eras. They all agreed that this hire might be the one to get Texas back to the winner’s circle.

“From the moment that I showed up as a collegiate player here, you realize very quickly the importance of the traditions,” said former Texas star Drew Stubbs, an All-America center fielder on the 2005 title team. “He referenced the former players. You’re putting on a jersey to represent a state, a brotherhood, a school and a program with a rich history. That’s not to say that it’s fallen by the wayside, but I think this staff is very aware of that and they're going to embrace and really push it forward.”

Said former Longhorns star Brooks Kieschnick, who played for Gustafson and was a friend of Garrido's for 20 years: “He’s going to bring a winning attitude and I think he’s going to embrace the alumni. He’s going to make sure we’re all included in everything and that bodes well for everybody.”

Tommy Harmon, Gustafson’s first catcher and later an assistant under both him and Garrido, pointed to focus and work ethic as important factors in what Schlossnagle brings, but also imparted a few words of advice.

“The minute you start thinking you own a little bit a part of this place, it will jump up and bite you,” Harmon said. “You’ve got to protect the heritage of this place and what's gone on here for many years before you. You have to develop the culture and have leaders who will pass it down from year to year to year.”

About that Texas A&M exit

Schlossnagle issued a public apology to TexAgs reporter Richard Zane, who asked him about the Texas opening minutes after the Aggies lost to Tennessee in the national championship game. Admittedly, he could have handled it better, but exits are rarely graceful in today’s climate.

When asked about the reaction he expects to receive when he leads the Horns into College Station in 2026 — they will match up at UFCU Disch-Falk next season — Schlossnagle said, “It will be an experience, for sure.”

That’s putting it mildly.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas takes a swing at athletic glory by hiring Jim Schlossnagle