A Texas A&M coach still has a piece of his heart for some TCU Horned Frogs

As TCU registered the final out against Indiana State on Sunday, it was lost on most of the 9,000 in attendance at Lupton Stadium that it was two years ago to the day + 1 when the coach who made TCU’s presence in Omaha both a reality, and an expectation, resigned.

On June 9, 2021, Jim Schlossnagle left TCU to become the head coach at Texas A&M.

On June 10, 2023, TCU returned to the College World Series for the first time since 2017.

It will be a long time when this program no longer has any remaining imprint of his fingerprints. Between the presence of current head coach Kirk Saarloos, most of the players on this roster, and the baseball facility itself, Schlossnagle is still here even though he’s been gone to College Station for two years.

“We established a structure of a program that is going to stand the test of time,” Schlossnagle said in a phone interview this week. “Kirk has done an awesome job of building on that, and moving forward like I did with (former TCU coach) Lance Brown. There is no resentment here or anything like that at all.

“I take a lot of pride in that, not that I had anything to do with this team. That’s a credit to their staff and those players.”

When Schnossnagle resigned from TCU in the early summer of 2021, it was the end to a period of time when he felt the itch to try something different.

His son and daughter, both of whom are now TCU graduates, were out of the house. Schloss’ had been at TCU for 18 years. Save for winning a national title, he had achieved everything else.

The timing of the departure, however painful and sad, made sense. As time passed, the departure worked out for both parties.

In Schloss’ first season at Texas A&M, the Aggies reached the College World Series.

Meanwhile his successor and former assistant, Saarloos, led TCU back to the NCAA Tournament, where its season ended in College Station in a loss against Schlossnagle’s Aggies.

This season, A&M reached the NCAA Tournament and were eliminated by Stanford, which defeated Texas to reach the World Series.

When TCU plays Oral Roberts in the first game on Friday in Omaha, Schlossnagle will be watching. A lot of TCU’s current players either played for him, or he recruited them.

Outfielder Elijah Nunez, outfielder Luke Boyers, pitcher Luke Savage, infielder Brayden Taylor were all Schloss’ players, among a list of others.

“For sure I root for them; I will never be separated from the guys I coached,” Schlossnagle said. “I am super happy for those guys. I am so glad they are playing in Omaha; I’m just sad I wasn’t a part of that in my last year there.”

When Schlossnagle came to TCU in 2003 from UNLV, most of what is in place today didn’t exist.

His arrival was a part of a broad, university-wide movement to invest in school upgrades, specifically its athletic department.

For years he viewed TCU as the private school in the Southwest that could thrive, if ... (if it spent some money).

“When I was at Tulane (from 1994 to 2001), TCU was the one private school I had my eye on that I thought it could be very successful,” Schloss’ said.

TCU spent the money. It built the necessary facilities, specifically Lupton Stadium. The baseball program flourished.

Former football coach Gary Patterson receives, justifiably, most of the credit for the rise of TCU’s overall athletic brand; what Schloss’ did for the baseball program deserves to be in the conversation.

It made the World Series in 2010, and went four straight years from 2014 to 2017. “Toad to Omaha” became a thing. A strong, painful, case that one of those teams should have won the title, specifically in 2016.

A culture and an identity that Schloss’, and so many others built, keeps going even after its founding face moved elsewhere.

“Any time my team isn’t in the World Series you are super jealous, and I think every coach in the nation, that’s where you want your season to end,” Schlossnagle said. “I root for the players. I watch them, and if we aren’t playing (TCU), I am excited for them, and for the TCU fans, that they got back there.

“I know they had great crowds over the weekend (against Indiana State). There is no bitter sweetness to this at all. The only time I want to play TCU is in the World Series.”

Considering the caliber of the coaches and the state of both Texas A&M and TCU in baseball, maybe next year.