5 possible coaching candidates for Texas A&M baseball following Jim Schlossnagle’s departure

OMAHA, Neb. — In one of the more surprising head coaching changes in college baseball, Jim Schlossnagle has left Texas A&M for rival Texas less than 24 hours removed from an appearance in the College World Series Finals.

With Schlossnagle’s departure, the Aggies will now make their second baseball coaching hire since 2021 and the first hire under new athletic director Trev Alberts.

The Aggies are coming off the best season in program history with a first-ever appearance in the CWS Finals and had a lot of momentum going with investment in stadium upgrades coming soon and a solid group of returning impact players that were expected back.

Now with Schlossnagle leaving, there’s no certainty that the same core of players will be back in 2025 alongside whoever the new coach is.

The A&M head coaching gig is still going to be well thought of with a lot of resources and an athletic department that will likely make a sizable offer when it comes to salary for their next skipper.

Here are five possible coaches who could replace Schlossnagle next year.

Nick Mingione

The 2024 SEC and NCBWA Coach of the Year helped get Kentucky to its first-ever College World Series this past season and has proven to be one of the fastest-rising coaches in the nation. The 45-year-old has been with the Wildcats for eight seasons and took them to three Super Regionals before finally making it to Omaha for the first time after winning the SEC East. Before getting his first head coaching gig at Kentucky, Mingione was an assistant at Mississippi State from 2009-2016 where the Bulldogs made five NCAA Tournaments and were CWS runners-up once in 2013.

Rob Vaughn

The 36-year-old is still fairly new on the scene of SEC baseball, just finishing his first season as Alabama’s head coach. But he brought the Crimson Tide to the NCAA Tournament in his debut year after an impressive six-year tenure at Maryland where he took the Terrapins to the tournament twice and was a two-time Big Ten Coach of the Year. Vaughn also has Texas roots, being from Corpus Christi.

Skip Johnson

The Denton native has had some standout campaigns for Oklahoma during his seven-year tenure with the Sooners. Johnson had to right the ship after some lackluster seasons under Pete Hughes and brought Oklahoma to four NCAA Tournaments and the CWS runner-up spot in 2022. Johnson was also a longtime assistant at Texas from 2007-2016. At 57, he’s among the older candidates that the Aggies might want to consider, but he still seems to have a lot left in him and a solid track record with a 229-153 win-loss total.

Dan Heefner

While maybe not the splashiest hire, Heefner is the definition of a program guy. The Aggies may want to lock down someone long-term after having Schlossnagle leave after just three years. Look no further than Heefner who has helmed Dallas Baptist since 2008 — and was an assistant for three years before that. What Heefner has done for the Patriots is wildly impressive, taking the school of just over 4,000 students to the NCAA Tournament 13 times and Super Regionals twice with a 652-326-1 overall record. Under Heefner’s watch 52 players have been drafted out of DBU. The resources are minuscule in comparison to Texas A&M. It would be a big step up for Heefner, but one that could be worth the gamble.

Max Weiner

The Aggies are likely going to try and make a big splash with their hire and might not want to go with a 29-year-old still getting his feet wet in college baseball. But the Aggies’ pitching coach from this past season completely elevated the team and was a big reason A&M made such a deep run in the postseason. A former collegiate pitcher, member of Forbes “30 Under 30″ for sports and ex-pitching coordinator for the Seattle Mariners, Weiner already has an impressive resumé. Weiner has been talked up a lot in the past few months and could get a head coaching job sooner rather than later. It might be a stretch for A&M to hand him the reins just like that, but he’s also one of the brightest minds in college baseball right now and could be a star in the near future.