AUSTIN (KXAN) — Once Jim Schlossnagle hits the third year of his proposed contract as the Texas Longhorns head baseball coach, he’ll become the highest-paid coach on the diamond in the entire country.
According to the agenda book for the upcoming University of Texas System Board of Regents meeting Aug. 21-22, Schlossnagle will make a relatively modest $1 million base salary for the first two years of his seven-year contract and make a massive leap to $2.86 million to start the third year. That will stay flat through the end of his contract on June 30, 2031.
He’ll make less of a base salary in his first two seasons at Texas than at Texas A&M, where he made $1.3 million in his first two years with the Aggies, with a $500,000 raise in his third year.
Once he hits the third year of his contract, he’ll make around $700,000 more than Vanderbilt’s Tim Corbin is currently making as the highest-paid baseball coach in the country. According to Aria Gerson of the Tennessean in Nashville, Corbin earned a little more than $1.94 million from Vanderbilt in 2023. He has been the coach of the Commodores since 2003.
If Schlossnagle hits all of his incentive bonuses, it’ll add $500,000 to his pay. If the Longhorns win the Men’s College World Series under his watch, he’ll pocket an extra $300,000 and if he’s named the SEC coach of the year he gets an extra $50,000. If he wins national coach of the year, he’ll get another $50,000. The same bonus amount goes for each regular season conference title and conference tournament title.
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Schlossnagle is also getting a relocation and temporary housing allowance of $40,000, the use of one car, a country club membership and ticket allowances for Longhorns athletics.
The contract awaits approval from the Texas System Board of Regents.
Here’s a breakdown:
- Annual base salary per season for seven seasons (June 25, 2024-June 30, 2031)
- Year 1: $1 million
- Year 2: $1 million
- Year 3-7: $2.68 million
- Incentives (maximum of $500,000 annually)
- SEC championships (not to exceed $100,000)
- SEC regular season championship, $50,000
- SEC tournament championship, $50,000
- NCAA tournament performance (not cumulative, not to exceed $300,000)
- Make the tournament, $50,000
- Advance to a super regional, $100,000
- Advance to the MCWS, $150,000
- Advance to the MCWS championship series, $200,000
- Win the MCWS championship, $300,000
- Coaching recognition (not to exceed $100,000)
- SEC coach of the year, $50,000
- National coach of the year, $50,000
- SEC championships (not to exceed $100,000)
- One dealer car
- Country club membership “in accordance with athletic department’s policies and procedures and based on availability and business need”
- Relocation and temporary housing allowance, $40,000
- Ticket allowance for home and away baseball games plus other UT athletic contests
How does it compare to his contract at Texas A&M?
Had Schlossnagle stuck around at Texas A&M, he would have received raises of $500,000 per year in his seven-year deal, taking his base pay from $1.3 million to $1.55 million by the final year of his contract in 2028. He earned a $195,000 signing bonus and a $170,000 retainment bonus Sept. 1, 2022, for remaining as coach.
His incentive structure at Texas A&M was a little different. Had he won the national title they were so close to winning last season, he would have pocketed an extra $150,000 rather than the $300,000 he’s promised by Texas if the Longhorns win a title. He’ll generally make more in incentive bonuses at Texas, but he also had a $20,000 bonus if the Aggies had a cumulative GPA of 3.25 or higher, a bonus he doesn’t have at Texas. In the 2023-24 season, the Aggies’ GPA was 3.24.
How does it compare to Davie Pierce’s contract?
Former head coach David Pierce was making $1.2 million annually in base salary by September 2021 and he was given a $118,750 bonus on Oct. 1, 2021. He coached the Longhorns for eight seasons from 2017-2024 and was fired after a 36-24 record last season in which the Longhorns failed to make it out of the NCAA regional round. Pierce was 297-162 as the Texas head coach.