Texas A&M’s surging baseball workforce needs to be a nationwide powerhouse

In three seasons at Texas A&M, Jim Schlossnagle gained the Aggies’ first recreation within the Males’s Faculty World Sequence since 1993, led them to a No. 1 rating this yr and to a No. 3 total NCAA event seed, their highest in class historical past.

In Faculty Station getting ready for the Aggies’ regional matchup towards Grambling (Friday, 1 p.m. ET, ESPN+/ESPN App), he has his sights set on a run to Omaha, in the hunt for a nationwide championship. The title has eluded each the Aggies and Schlossnagle, who had three 50-win seasons at TCU and led the Horned Frogs to the MCWS 5 instances.

Regardless of all that success in Fort Price, he got here to Faculty Station as a result of he does not wish to simply construct a championship program. He needs to make a monster.

He believes at a spot like Texas A&M, he can shake issues up, and he isn’t afraid to inform you. He “will get” the Aggie traditions, together with selecting a senior every year to put on No. 12 to signify the college’s famed twelfth Man. He even pinch hit this yr’s 12, Ryan Targac, on senior day on the ultimate day of the common season and Targac delivered a single to run-rule then-No. 3 Arkansas to say a collection win over the Razorbacks, one of the vital memorable moments in Olsen Discipline historical past.

🔊RYAN TARGAC 🔊

The twelfth Man comes by to run-rule Arkansas and @OlsenSection203 is letting him comprehend it. @RyanTargac #GigEm pic.twitter.com/n1jBZaMKi5

— Nicole Griffith (@nicolegriff_) Might 18, 2024

He made the college music, “The Spirit of Aggieland,” a brand new staple within the backside of the third at Olsen Discipline this season, saying it was his favourite at soccer video games.

“It is electrical, man,” he stated.

However Schlossnagle is not afraid to attempt to jolt the Aggies into a brand new period, both. Take, for example, his resolution to ask the championship-caliber Aggie Dance Group to carry out at baseball video games for the reason that all-male Yell Leaders roam the sidelines at Kyle Discipline.

“They do not get to bop at soccer video games, which I believe is idiotic,” Schlossnagle stated. “That is simply outdated Aggie pondering. … The primary yr, with some individuals you’ll have thought I modified the college colours to burnt orange. The repercussions have been the craziest factor I’ve ever skilled.”

If it improves the game-day expertise, Schlossnagle is not afraid to take the warmth. And he’d want it if the music was loud. And present.

“Traditions are superior, however conventional pondering is just not superior,” he stated. “We have labored onerous to try to discover that mix of honoring A&M and all the pieces that it’s and its core traditions. However on the identical time, we’re making our recreation and our program engaging to a 15-year-old as a result of that is who we’re recruiting.”

Earlier than Schlossnagle bought to Faculty Station, Aggie followers noticed his genius up shut when their workforce performed TCU. Schlossnagle’s Horned Frogs went 9-7 towards the Aggies in his 18 years there, together with 6-2 towards Texas A&M within the postseason and three events during which the Frogs ended the Aggies’ season in tremendous regional showdowns. Now, after three years of success in Faculty Station, he is constructing a powerhouse his method. And he has earned sufficient clout to boldly push for change at a college that is determined to win.

For brand spanking new athletic director Trev Alberts, who arrived midseason in March and rapidly discovered Schlossnagle had huge plans, he would not need it every other method.

“Would you like anyone who cares a lot that they are into each single element to make this system nice? Or anyone who does not care?” Alberts stated. “We have got a man main our baseball program that understands the significance of the main points and is a high-level executor. And fairly frankly, that is why we have got a top-five baseball workforce within the nation.”

The most important concept of all is Schlossnagle’s imaginative and prescient for a stadium that befits the Aggies’ grand ambitions. It is easy: All he is asking for is a brand new ballpark that is double the scale of the one the Aggies opened in 2012, and for it to revolutionize the way in which schools view their baseball amenities.

“What Camden Yards did to Main League Baseball, I believe Texas A&M ought to try to try this for faculty baseball,” stated Schlossnagle, a Maryland native, of the Baltimore Orioles’ stadium that began an architectural development to harken again to the period of traditional baseball cathedrals.

No strain, Alberts. However then once more, Alberts stated he is listening. And so is the administration. On Might 7, Texas A&M’s board of regents permitted an $80 million renovation of the stadium.

“That is why I used to be drawn to Texas A&M,” Alberts stated. “It is a place the place you’ll be able to dream like that. … I do not wish to should push coaches. I would like coaches who push me and our administrative workforce and this place is full of them. And Jim is likely one of the leaders.”

And that is additionally why Schlossnagle traded his purple in for maroon. With two grown youngsters, after going by a divorce and turning 50, he determined he was able to tackle a brand new problem. However provided that he may do it on the most important stage.

“I did not want this job. I had a fantastic job,” Schlossnagle stated. “To be trustworthy with you, TCU’s program was forward of Texas A&M’s program. I did not go away for a greater job. I left for a special job.”

Totally different, as a result of TCU is a non-public college with the second-smallest enrollment amongst energy conferences. Schlossnagle stated he could not assist however surprise what life can be like at a large state college with the accompanying enrollment (69,598 college students in 2023 to 12,785 at TCU) and substantial athletic funds ($279.2 million in working income in 2023 fiscal yr, in keeping with USA As we speak, a bit of greater than 4 instances what TCU budgeted for athletics income in 2023).

“In case you requested the common faculty fan, on a scale of 1 to 10, the place was Texas A&M’s baseball program in 2021, they’d have stated, ‘Hey, man, it is a strong 8,’ proper?” Schlossnagle stated. “However the attraction wasn’t the 8. The attraction was the distinction between 8 and 10.”

So he set to work. Schlossnagle is aware of the right way to discover expertise and develop it. 5 Aggies have been named to All-SEC first or second groups this season, essentially the most within the convention. Three of these first-teamers have been transfers: Catcher Jackson Appel (Penn), outfielder Braden Montgomery (Stanford) and Evan Aschenbeck (Blinn Faculty).

However as obsessive as Schlossnagle is about expertise, he is simply as all in favour of making Texas A&M an inconceivable place to play for opponents. As the highest seed in their very own regional, the Aggies’ 32-3 dwelling report at Olsen Discipline this yr looms giant, notably with rival Texas coming to city.

There can be a rowdy environment, however that is the norm at Texas A&M video games. The followers are identified for a number of traditions, however principally the well-known “Ball 5” chant that begins after 4 straight balls are thrown out of the strike zone, with a complete stadium including a quantity for every extra non-strike. In 2017, Mississippi State pitcher Konnor Pilkington suffered the indignity of beginning a string of 12 straight balls whereas the mantra lasted almost 11 minutes. As soon as a participant throws a strike, the complete stadium erupts in cheers.

So think about that scene with twice as many followers. That is the type of dreaming Schlossnagle is doing, noting that whereas the Blue Bell Park renovation is sort of 13 years outdated, that is an eternity within the cutthroat world of SEC baseball.

“In case you take a look at the SEC West — simply in our division — since 2012, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Arkansas, Alabama and LSU have both constructed model new ballparks or performed main renovations since then,” Schlossnagle stated. “Auburn has spent more cash on their stadium than Texas A&M. We are the largest college with supposedly essentially the most cash. Kyle Discipline [102,733, largest stadium in the SEC] is to school soccer what Olsen Discipline ought to be to school baseball.”

He is proper. Each stadium within the West has been renovated, rebuilt or upgraded since then, whereas the Aggies really decreased seating capability of their redevelopment so as to add extra facilities, with a listed capability of 6,100 and a post-2012 report crowd of 8,075 for a recreation towards Vanderbilt in April.

Arkansas, for example, constructed a brand new stadium in 1996 and added a $27 million improvement facility in 2022. Mississippi State unveiled a three-phase, four-year, $68 million renovation of its legendary Dudy Noble Discipline for the 2019 season and continues to set attendance information, together with the present NCAA baseball on-campus single-game attendance report at 16,423 in 2023 vs. Ole Miss.

Schlossnagle stated his dream can be a 12,000- to fifteen,000-seat venue. In an ideal world, he’d like to construct from scratch elsewhere on campus. Olsen is hemmed in by a street on one aspect and practice tracks behind the outfield wall. However with a protracted historical past on the website and an iconic view of Kyle Discipline in middle discipline and the occasional practice blowing its horn throughout a recreation — generally to the tune of the “Aggie Struggle Hymn” — Schlossnagle appreciates the distinctive parts of the stadium’s location.

Whereas Schlossnagle retains an eye fixed on the massive points, he needs his gamers to have enjoyable, and in return, for the followers to really feel like they’re in on the motion. In 2022, after a speech to his workforce saying he needs them to be “hungry for wins” like while you eat one Pringle and might’t cease, Pringles or large Pringles props have been all over the place across the dugout. Even Julius Pringles, the actual identify of the mustachioed potato chip mascot, got here to city.

.@Pringles handed the vibe examine 👌😎 #GigEm pic.twitter.com/dhowEfQj4v

— Texas A&M Baseball (@AggieBaseball) June 10, 2022

This yr, gamers needed to began enjoying an Irish folks music known as “Rattlin’ Lavatory” after scoring. They debuted it earlier than a three-game homestand towards Vanderbilt, torching the Commodores 36-6 in these video games, setting a program report for runs in an SEC collection that thrilled a packed ballpark. His gamers usually make TikToks the place the workforce performs golf on the sector making an attempt to hit targets across the stadium.

“Everybody talks about Pringles in 2022,” Schlossnagle stated throughout an look on TexAgs this week. “Why did they discuss Pringles? As a result of we gained. ‘Rattlin’ Lavatory,’ fungo golf and all that stuff is cool while you win. Have your substance be your model. A part of what makes us good is the fellows play with some freedom and play unfastened.”

Because the Aggies have cooled down the stretch, principally throughout street collection (seven of their 13 losses have are available in Might), this return dwelling to welcoming crowds is a reward for a stellar season. And it does not damage that there is a potential rivalry matchup with Texas on the horizon. The Longhorns play Louisiana at 6 p.m. ET on Friday evening (ESPN2/ESPN App) and the winners of these two Friday video games will play on Saturday at 9 p.m.

The Longhorns are 35-22 and went 0-2 within the Massive 12 event, an uncharacteristically pedestrian season for the game’s winningest program that has made 38 MCWS appearances. With coach David Pierce underneath the microscope and dealing for an athletic director, Chris Del Conte, who was Schlossnagle’s outdated boss at TCU, there are many Longhorns conserving watch on the Aggies’ skipper.

Schlossnagle is aware of the eye that can be on this regional. He is lived it in midweek one-off nonconference video games between the 2 groups since he is been at A&M, together with a 9-2 win in Austin in March that marked the Aggies’ fifth win of their previous six video games towards the Longhorns. A kind of different wins got here within the Males’s Faculty World Sequence in 2022, with Schlossnagle joking that in the event that they hadn’t gained, followers won’t have even remembered that they made it to Omaha. He eschews any coachspeak on what the warmth means across the rivalry.

“That is like nuclear stuff,” he stated. “However there is not a second in my day the place I take into consideration what Texas is doing. I believe if you happen to go take a look at basic society at this time with social media, everyone does the comparability recreation. And A&M and Texas have been doing the comparability recreation for a pair hundred years.”

Nonetheless, he presents one measuring stick of his personal to assist his trigger.

“[Texas’] Disch-Falk holds extra followers, and that should not be the case,” he stated.

Schlossnagle has studied stadium renderings and he is excited. Now he is bought an opportunity to maintain constructing, and hold incomes extra capital for his imaginative and prescient for Texas A&M to be a special type of faculty baseball program.

“What I am making an attempt to do is get this program proper the place it ought to be relative to the scale and energy and power of the college,” Schlossnagle stated.

Together with his $80 million ballpark — one of the vital costly faculty baseball initiatives ever envisioned — scheduled to start building in 2026, Schlossnagle can start to see the monster taking form. He is already constructing a program worthy of such a venue.