Will Jim Schlossnagle be the next head man at Mississippi State?
The current TCU head coach is being linked to the MSU opening.
Mississippi State’s baseball team is currently preparing for battle in the Tallahassee regional, as the 2-seed Bulldogs take on 3-seed Oklahoma this Friday, but the focus surrounding the Diamond Dawgs is centered elsewhere.
John Cohen has been looking for the next head baseball coach at Mississippi State ever since the sudden resignation of Andy Cannizaro. Cohen appeared to have hit a homerun with the hiring of Cannizaro before, well, you know. So, the former Bulldogs’ ball player and coach and current AD has been looking for the next man to lead the storied program.
Reports surfaced over the weekend that TCU’s Jim Schlossnagle has emerged as a “strong option” for the Mississippi State baseball opening.
TCU baseball coach Jim Schlossnagle is apparently considering taking the same position at Mississippi State.
D1Baseball’s Kendall Rogers tweeted Friday the Bulldogs were planning to make a “big splash” hire. When a fan replied to that tweet saying Mississippi State was going to hire Schlossnagle, Rogers replied the TCU coach is a “strong option” but there is no deal done yet.
But why would the winningest coach in TCU history leave the program that he has built into a national power? The Star-Telegram’s Stefan Stevenson wrote that MSU’s ability to pay Schlossnagle a handsome salary and the $55 million Dudy Noble renovations are just two reasons why Schloss may jump at the opportunity.
The biggest draw to Starkville for Schlossnagle would be the Bulldogs’ famed Dudy Noble Field. A $55 million renovation to the stadium is underway and will be completed next year. It is considered one of the best college baseball stadiums in the country.
Dudy Noble Field holds the NCAA record for on-campus attendance for a game in 2014 when 15,586 attended a Bulldogs’ game. Coaching in the SEC would also pose a potentially tantalizing challenge for Schlossnagle. Also, the prospect of coaching at a major state school, one that is more than twice the size (22,000 enrollment) of TCU, a private school, could pose a certain intrigue for Schlossnagle, who turns 48 in August.
It’s no secret that Mississippi State has one of the most passionate fan bases in all of college baseball to go along with a program that has produced Thunder and Lightning, the Left Field Lounge, and the only two Triple Crown winners in SEC history.
TCU, meanwhile, is forced to overcome obstacles — such as the partial scholarship limit and ridiculously expensive private school tuition costs. Competing with Texas, Baylor, A&M, and Oklahoma for recruits cannot help, either. Nonetheless, Schlossnagle has won big in Fort Worth — leading the Horned Frogs to five trips to Omaha this decade, including four consecutive College World Series appearances from 2013-2017.
Mississippi State last made an appearance in Omaha in 2013, when the Bulldogs made a run all the way to the National Championship before falling to the UCLA Bruins. The Bulldogs won the SEC outright in Cohen’s final season in the dugout, 2016.
Could this all be a smokescreen to give Schlossnagle leverage for raise and other benefits? Maybe. But when there’s smoke, there is typically fire.
Can John Cohen and Missisisppi State land one of the premier coaches in the entire sport? We may know soon.
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