New Texas Longhorns baseball coach Jim Schlossnagle will soon become highest paid in SEC

The UT System Board of Regents are expected to approve Thursday new Texas baseball coach Jim Schlossnagle’s guaranteed seven-year contract that will eventually make him the highest paid in the SEC.

Details of the contract were unveiled last week in the UT regents’ agenda book. Schlossnagle is set to make $15.4 million with only $1 million annually coming during the 2025 and 2026 seasons.

In Schlossnagle’s third season, his pay jumps dramatically, skyrocketing to a guaranteed $2,680,000 for each of the remaining five years.

The Tennessean found that Vanderbilt’s Tim Corbin was the only SEC baseball coach making $1.5 million annually as of 2022. Last season, four coaches hit that figure. Kentucky’s Nick Mingione, named SEC coach of the year, made just $705,000.

Schlossnagle’s deal puts him in the bottom tier to start, but he’ll rocket to the top of the SEC by Year 3, assuming nobody gets grand extensions.

Like most UT contracts designed by athletic director Chris Del Conte, Schlossnagle’s deal has standard performance bonuses and perks. The coach can receive a maximum of $500,000 in bonuses annually should the Longhorns do things like win the SEC title ($100,000) or win the College World Series ($300,000). He can also get an extra $100,000 for being named the SEC coach of the year or national coach of the year.

Schlossnagle’s contract also affords the former Texas A&M coach a $40,000 relocation allowance to move from College Station to Austin. He receives 16 home game tickets, eight road game tickets, two tickets for all other UT sports and access to an automobile.

For most contracts, the UT regents’ approval is merely a rubber stamp, however it is still required as determined by state law. “The manner in which he runs a first-class program is second to none,” UT Board of Regents Chairman Kevin Eltife said at Schlossnagle’s introductory press conference.

This is also a dramatic jump compared to former UT coach David Pierce’s salary. He made $1.2 million for the 2024 season. Pierce was let go after a 297-162 record in eight years at UFCU Disch-Falk Field. During that time, the Horns made three CWS appearances and six tournament trips overall. But he never won it all, the standard set by previous UT legends like Cliff Gustafson and Augie Garrido.

This is Schlossnagle’s challenge; he understands the championship and sky-high expectations.

Schlossnagle was all-in with the Aggies, guiding the program all the way to the College World Series finals last season, farther than A&M had ever been previously. He resurrected the program in just three years, getting to the CWS twice in that span. At A&M, Schlossnagle was 135-62.

But days after leaving Omaha, he bolted A&M for rival Texas. The heat from that decision has died down, but business will pick up dramatically when the season begins.

Del Conte is paying his longtime friend to handle that heat plus win big in Austin.

As Del Conte said at Schlossnagle’s introductory presser, “I couldn’t think of a better person to lead our baseball program.”