TCU has narrowed its baseball coach search with a decision coming as early as this week
TCU could have its next baseball coach in place as early as this week.
TCU athletic director Jeremiah Donati provided a brief update to the Star-Telegram on Sunday, saying in a text message: “We have made tremendous progress.”
An exact timeline for a decision or names of candidates have not been disclosed. TCU is keeping its coaching search as confidential as possible.
However, it appears that three or four candidates have emerged in recent days as contenders to replace Jim Schlossnagle, who departed for Texas A&M last week.
The candidate who has generated the most buzz, at least among former players and fans, is pitching coach and recruiting coordinator Kirk Saarloos. Saarloos, who joined TCU in the summer of 2012, is expected to interview for the job on Monday, a source said.
TCU associate head coach Bill Mosiello is another internal candidate expected to interview Monday, a source said.
Saarloos appeared to be the favorite since Schlossnagle departed, but he was not a lock. Donati and TCU are in the midst of conducting a national search to find Schlossnagle’s successor, but could end up staying in-house by promoting Saarloos.
Mosiello is another possible internal promotion. He’s been at TCU since the summer of 2013 and the offense had another standout season in 2021. Mosiello has also played a significant role in recruiting such as landing Brayden Taylor out of Utah. Taylor had a stellar true freshman season in 2021, being named the Big 12’s freshman of the year.
As stated, others remain in the mix but TCU is closing in on its next coach. Dallas Baptist coach Dan Heefner was a popular name thrown out early on, but a source said he is not in consideration for the job.
At the end of the day, whoever the next TCU coach is will be replacing a coach in Schlossnagle who turned TCU into a perennial power. Schlossnagle led the Frogs to five College World Series and 15 NCAA tournaments in his 18 seasons.
This year’s team went 41-19, winning the Big 12 regular-season and tournament championships. The Frogs hosted a NCAA regional, but were eliminated by DBU.
Schlossnagle finished his TCU tenure with a 734-346 record.
This story was originally published June 13, 2021 at 2:37 PM.
