Jim Schlossnagle brought assistants Michael Earley (left) and Nolan Cain (right) with him to Austin in 2024. Both have since returned to Texas A&M, with Cain the most recent defection.
Jay Janner/American-Statesman
AUSTIN — While I got ya before I go on three weeks’ vacation, here are nine things and one really crazy prediction:
1. Gig-ing the Longhorns
All’s fair in love and war and apparently baseball. Texas’ Nolan Cain, one of the best recruiting coordinators in college baseball, has decided to leave the Longhorns and return to his old job with Texas A&M and receive an associate head coach title. “Nolan made a family decision, and we wish him well,” Texas head coach Jim Schlossnagle told the Houston Chronicle. Cain’s decision was largely financially based after making $400,000 at Texas, I’m told. Nothing wrong with that in an otherwise lateral move. Schlossnagle did the reverse pivot two years ago because Texas was his dream job. Here’s hoping Cain kept some of his maroon wardrobe. He’ll join Aggies head coach Michael Earley, who also joined Schlossnagle in the move from College Station to Austin although Earley left before the ink was dry on his contract. Cain was ever so briefly a candidate for the head coaching job at Houston but was disinterested because of lack of financial backing for NIL with the Cougars. It wouldn’t surprise if his return to Aggieland is as brief as his two seasons with the Longhorns because he’ll be a head coaching candidate again soon. Cain proved his worth to the burnt orange by helping lure highly-rated recruiting classes to the Longhorns with the No. 3-ranked national class in 2026 and No. 2 in 2025. A&M certainly needs the upgrade since Earley’s Aggies failed to get out of their host regional in June and didn’t even make the NCAA Tournament the year before. … This is hardly a new trend between the two rivals. Before poaching Schlossnagle — on the heels of a College World Series runner-up finish in 2024, no less — Texas also hired Aggie offensive coordinator in Lynn Amedee, and A&M plucked Emory Bellard as its head football coach off Darrell Royal’s staff. Longhorn receivers Les Koenning Jr. (receiver coach and offensive coordinator) and Dean Campbell also coached on Aggie staffs. Even more recently, Longhorn baseball stars Adrian Rodriguez and Sam Cozart committed to A&M before switching to the burnt orange as did Texas All-American linebacker Anthony Hill Jr.
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A 1-2 record at the College World Series shows Texas’ season was pretty good, but not great.
Vera Nieuwenhuis/Associated Press
2. Really, really good if not great season
Texas didn’t go 0-for-Omaha, but winning just one game in a rout of Alabama was hardly the goal. That said, the Longhorns didn’t have the best team in college baseball this season and certainly didn’t have the best team in Omaha. I was very skeptical the Longhorns would even get to the College World Series, much less win it, because of their suspect hitting at the bottom of the order and its erratic middle relief. Losing long reliever Max Grubbs was a big blow to their chances, too. Those two factors proved to be the team’s Achilles’ heel because the last four in the order were a collective 2-for-39 in the three CWS games. Texas ran into a buzzsaw in Georgia, but the Longhorn pitchers were nothing short of sensational in holding the nation’s most powerful lineup to just 10 hits in 18 innings, only one home run and just nine runs in two games. They struck out 29 batters and walked five. That is excellence. The Longhorns completely overpowered Daniel Jackson, the best player in the country who went 0-for-9 against Texas. But the Bulldogs’ pitchers were equally magnificent and suffocated the Longhorns like no others this season. They needed just four pitchers in the first four games and got two complete games in their first two wins. That’s an absurd statistic. … So was this a great season or just a good one? I’d go with a really good one. Everyone knows the standard at Texas, and everyone from Schlossnagle to the water boy preaches it every single day. What this season did was show strong progress and show the program is headed in the right direction.
Anthony Pack Jr. figures to be a fixture in a Texas lineup that could see numerous changes next season.
Aaron E. Martinez/Austin American-Statesman
3. The Horns never rebuild but do have to restock
Now the real question is, how does Texas get back to Omaha? Schlossnagle has his work cut out for him because there’s a decent chance only two Longhorn regulars will be back at the eight everyday positions in shortstop Adrian Rodriguez and left fielder Anthony Pack Jr. That’s pretty flimsy, even as great as those two players. Rodriguez finally showcased his amazing ability with his five-hit, hit-for-the-cycle performance with seven RBIs in the 14-2 win over Alabama. He has a real shot at next year’s Golden Spikes Award and could leave Texas as the school’s best shortstop ever, with all due respect to Spike Owen, a magician with the glove, and the late Mike Brumley. Pack, too, is sensational as one opposing coach after another raved about him. Alabama coach Rob Vaughn said Pack will “be a problem for this league for a lot of years.” … However, Schlossnagle desperately needs to land a catcher and an outfielder out of the transfer portal and maybe a pitcher if he loses many of his recruits. Second baseman Ethan Mendoza and third baseman/first baseman Casey Borba could return as they weigh their value in next month’s MLB draft. … Texas on Saturday landed one of the top catchers in the country in Saint Mary’s junior Ian Armstrong. He was ranked the fifth-best catcher in defensive runs saved but also brings power and batting average strength to the Longhorns after hitting .351 with 16 home runs and 51 RBIs. … As indication of how difficult it is to get back to Omaha, know that none of the eight teams at the 2025 CWS, including national champion LSU, made it back to the tournament this year, and the Tigers didn’t even make the 64-team field. Texas had next to no depth among its hitters. I can’t even think of a key pinch-hit the Longhorns have gotten in the last two seasons. Losing outfielder Jonah Williams to shoulder surgery didn’t help because that forced the move of Aiden Robbins to right field and the insertion of offensively challenged Dariyan Pendergrass into the lineup at center. Pendergrass was there for his defense and almost came up with the most heroic play of the Series with his attempt to catch Ryan Black’s dying quail of a fly ball that ultimately led to Georgia’s second run. Of course, Texas didn’t even score, so it might be academic, but I don’t understand why Pendergrass needed to hold onto the ball in his glove so long. I tweeted at the time that even Dez Bryant thought Pendergrass held onto it long enough. … Schlossnagle made his pitch for prospects to choose the college route over the pro draft. “No disrespect to professional baseball,” Schlossnagle said. “I’ve never spent a day in professional baseball, but college athletics and the spirit around college baseball right now — in my experience, I’ve seen programs cut and no scholarships. And now we have extra scholarship money and people are building stadiums. It’s such a great sport, and how somebody would not want to be a part of that, it just amazes me.”
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Friendswood native Luke Harrison turned in a stellar start in his final outing as a Longhorn.
Vera Nieuwenhuis/Associated Press
4. Sentimental journey
It was such a cool moment to watch Luke Harrison shine in his final game as a Longhorn. The Friendswood native rose to the occasion like few others on the sport’s biggest stage and excelled. What an awesome memory the young man has. Harrison is one of those ultimate Longhorns who would almost die on the mound. Well done. … Junior catcher Carson Tinney, who will probably be drafted in the second or third round, was everything as advertised. He was emotional after Texas’ exit from the CWS. “Everything I’ve done and spent over the last year that I’ve been at Texas has poured into this team,” Tinney said. “I can’t express how grateful I am to be a Longhorn and to wear these five letters across my chest every single day.”… I also enjoyed watching players from Troy as well as Texas and other teams scoop up dirt from the infield at Charles Schwab Field as a souvenir from their appearance. I bet you a dozen or more Trojans and even an assistant coach or two grabbed the memento. … When Georgia shortstop Kolby Branch hit a solo home run in the ninth inning of his team’s 11-4 loss to Oklahoma and rounded the bases and slapped hands with his brother Kyle Branch, the Sooners shortstop who was google-eyed after seeing the ball leave the park, it was a truly heartfelt moment. … Texas had better make hay next year because it will likely lose to the MLB draft Volantis, sophomore draft-eligible Sam Cozart and Rodriguez next summer. Volantis and Cozart should be the best one-two starting tandem in the country. … Omaha is such a treat for me personally. The city puts on quite a show. Charles Schwab Field is such a beautiful ballpark with its majestic downtown setting and views, the wraparound concourse that allows fans a 360-degree access to the action and terrific press box. I do miss Rosenblatt Stadium atop the hill on 13th Street. … Texas stands to lose a bunch of top high school baseball prospects, none more highly regarded than shortstop Grady Emerson of Fort Worth Christian High School. He might go as high as No. 2 in the MLB draft. … Robbins was listed in one mock draft as the 27th pick and a draftee by the Mets, but he did himself no favors at Omaha.
Two more years of Arch Manning? That’s what Steve Sarkisian was talking about, but such a scenario could lead to a domino effect with other QBs on the Texas roster.
Sara Diggins/Austin American-Statesman
5. Arch hype train
OK, so Steve Sarkisian broached the subject of two more seasons for Arch Manning, not one. My colleagues and I have often discussed the notion of the junior returning for a senior season in 2027. And why not? He legitimately enjoys college football, could stockpile another dozen or more starts to help prepare him for the NFL, give himself better readiness for the next level with up to a minimum of 41 starts over the next two seasons. And it could help him stay out of Cleveland. Should the Browns have the No. 1 pick next April, why not say nah and come back to Austin? Going to Cleveland is a death wish, career-wise. One negative about such a scenario is it could cost Sarkisian KJ Lacey and maybe even Dia Bell. Would Lacey want to stick around for three seasons without getting on the field? Doubtful.
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6. Things I think I know
I’ve written more than once that softball coach Mike White is the best coach on campus. And he’s proven it with back-to-back national championships and then gone out and signed maybe the top class in the transfer portal with Arizona State catcher Samantha Swan to replace Reese Atwood and Florida State shortstop Isa Torres, a former Swan teammate at Georgetown, to take the place of second baseman Leighann Goode and former Texas Tech pitcher Samantha Lincoln to fill in with the graduation of Citlaly Gutierrez and loss of Cambria Salmon in the portal. … I think Arizona, Pittsburgh or Carolina will wind up with Brendan Sorsby. … I think Kyle Schwarber could hit 60 bombs this summer. Hope so since he’s the star of my .500 fantasy team. … I think the surprise team of the college football season will be Florida. I believe Jon Sumrall will be the next Steve Spurrier. …
7. Book recommendation
If you’re vacationing and need a good read this summer, pick up Erik Larson’s “Thunderstruck,” a compelling true-story tale about wireless telegraph inventor Guglielmo Marconi and mild-mannered, gentlemanly doctor Hawley Crippen and how their paths cross in a captivating tale about science, technology, entrepreneurship and real-life murder. Granted, the alternating chapters with those focused on Marconi’s scientific, trial-and-error details can be cumbersome and plodding reading. But those chapters dealing with the mystifying disappearance of Crippen’s wife, which was to be later borrowed by one Alfred Hitchcock for his terrific “Rear Window” movie, and the Scotland Yard detective who tracked him down are gripping prose.
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8. Scattershooting
While wondering whatever happened to former Longhorn pitching coach Clint Thomas, part of the 1983 national championship staff. I heard from Kenn Kasparek’s mother, who told me the former Longhorn pitcher runs a successful plumbing company in La Grange and that he and his wife have five kids. They had two and were expecting a third but weren’t exactly expecting to have the triplets they had.
9. On the couch
My wife and I watched “Michael” and really enjoyed the movie, which I give 8 ducks. We also watched the documentary on Michael Jackson, the story of his child molestation trial in which he was cleared of all charges despite a whole lot of compelling testimony. I’ll be honest. I’ve always loved his music, and the movie does it justice by playing full songs rather than brief excerpts. We also saw “MJ,” the Broadway play.
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Crazy prediction
The United States wins the World Cup. Dream big, right?