Michael Earley Introduced as Head Baseball Coach
Jul 02, 2024 | Baseball
New head baseball coach Michael Earley was officially introduced to the 12th Man on Tuesday afternoon inside the Ford Hall of Champions. You can watch the event, as well as the press conference, below. Transcripts of both events are available as well.
Michael Earley Welcome Celebration
(rough transcript)
DIRECTOR OF ATHLETICS TREV ALBERTS
Howdy. Wow! Give yourselves a round of applause. This is amazing. On behalf of us all in Texas A&M and Texas A&M Athletics, we'd just like to say welcome. Thank you for being here at the Ford Hall of Champions here on our campus. Today we get to announce and introduce you to the 21st coach of Aggie baseball, Michael Earley.
I want to be the first one to introduce and welcome the Earley family. We'd like to introduce his wife, Lisa, and his children, Marshall, Mia, and Madison. Please join me in welcoming the immediate family. We're so excited that you guys are here. And thank you so much. We want you to know how excited we are that your dad and your husband are going to be leading our baseball program. And we want you to know that we're going to surround him and help him and do the very best we can. So thank you guys for being here.
We have some special guests here. And, if you give me a little bit of time, I'd like to just kind of walk through a few of our special guests. We have, a Board of Regents member here is where's Jay Graham? There's Jay. Jay, thank you so much for being here, and April Graham his wife, thank you. Appreciate you guys. You know, we can't do what we do without great support. And so we want to thank all of our Regents. We want to thank them for how hard they work to help navigate this institution through so many challenges and opportunities. And so we're grateful for the support of our Board of Regents and the Graham family. I also want to recognize our chancellor of the Texas A&M University system, Mr. John Sharp. Thank you, sir. For those of you who don't know, Chancellor Sharp yesterday announced that he's going to be retiring after maybe about another year or so. So 14 years of leadership in the Texas A&M system. And much of what you're enjoying today, when you really think about where Texas A&M is, I know Chancellor Sharp would say there's a lot of people that deserve credit. But under your leadership, sir, this place has been transformed. So thank you for your leadership. I would like to thank the 12th Man Foundation board members. I'd like to thank coach Mark Johnson. The winningest coach in A&M history is here. Thank you so much for being here. I told Michael he's got a few wins to go. But we're grateful for your support. And thank you for being here as well.
Of course we'd like to thank the 12th Man. I'd like to thank our fans. Give yourself a round of applause. I'll tell you what. I had the great privilege of experiencing baseball at Blue Bell, and that was unbelievable. I can't thank you all enough for making that such a special environment for our student athletes and coaches. So, thank you for being here. And thank you for all of your support.
Finally, and most importantly, I'd like to pause and reflect and just thank our players. What an emotional ride. What an amazing ride. And we can't begin to tell you just how proud we are of you guys. The way you competed on the field, the way you represent this university, the way you competed in the classroom. You are the epitome of everything this place stands for. And we're so sorry that we didn't get to properly recognize and honor and celebrate you. But hopefully today is just a small little feeling from this great crowd of what we think about you guys. And so we're grateful that you're here. I'm proud to say I got a lot of phone calls during this process from these players. And I think Jace was probably the leader. Got a lot of respect for you, young man. Learned a lot from you. Thank you. Appreciate you.
I just want to talk a little bit about the process about how we got to today. won't take a lot of time. But I want you to know, and I'm really glad we did this, really early on after we knew that we were going through a transition, we called the players and asked for a meeting. And so Jace and the rest of the leadership on our baseball team, you imagine when the season ends, a lot of guys move on, right? They're going to summer baseball. They may go see family. but our baseball team assembled in the locker room and all acknowledged to you is a really emotional time. General Welsh was kind enough to come with me, and I really appreciated that. I want to thank Erin Jones for her work. But we met with the players and I've always found that informative. The players live this. This is their culture. This is their team. This is my team. And so I always learn something from talking to the players. And we spent about 45 minutes or so, and I really appreciated their willingness to open up and open their hearts and talk openly during a very emotional time. You can imagine, just coming two runs short of a national championship and then all of that that happens to them, to have the kind of leadership, thoughtfulness and integrity to engage in that conversation was really important to me. Secondly, what you want to do is, you want to evaluate, where's the program at? What's our culture, what are our needs? It doesn't take a genius even I could figure out. We got a lot of really good things happening. We've got a lot of momentum. There's not a lot of things that need to be altered and adjusted. So we recognized, hey, how do we find a way to take what's awesome, maintain it, and continue to grow it? Number three, I wanted to do a real search. And I really want to thank the Regents. I want to thank General Welsh for giving us the space and all of you to do a real search.
I want you to know, we talked to nine people, outstanding coaches. We will never release, it won't come from here who we talked to or what those conversations entailed. But I want you to know that we did a broad-based search and talked to a lot of coaches. Mostly what I was interested in was, three things. A very clear vision. In my experience, leaders who know exactly what their vision is, what their expectations are, where they are today and where they plan to go is a really good sign. Number two, I like people who hate losing. I like people who hate losing more than they like winning. Passionate people who are willing to pay the price for excellence. And finally, it's important that if you're looking for leadership, you find somebody who reflects the values of Texas A&M. At a place like Texas A&M, character still matters a lot. And I want you to know we had a lot of great candidates, but there was one person that really stood out amongst all of them, and that was Michael Earley.
And so before we introduce Michael or say a few more words, I'd like to introduce General Welsh and have him come up and share a few thoughts with you. I really am grateful for the leadership of General Welsh, your wisdom, your counsel and steady hand every step of the way. I could count on General Welsh to bounce things off of whether it be coming to the locker room to help us with the team. General Welsh really, really cares about our student athletes, and it comes through and we're grateful for that. So please join me in welcoming president General Mark Welsh.
TEXAS A&M PRESIDENT GENERAL MARK WELSH
Thank you. Thank you. And howdy. I have a few things to say. Don't panic. Thank you for being here. Trev, thank you for letting me be here. And a special thanks to Michael for giving us a great reason to be here today. The real reason I've been brought in by the team is as a musical consultant. They're not going to believe this, but this is an absolutely true statement. Since the day I went into a bar in Dublin about 25 years ago, I have had two versions of Rattlin' Bog on my Spotify playlist. I've got the Irish Rover's three minute version and Seamus Kennedy's eight minute version. Try and hang with that one.
This is a great day, I think, for Texas A&M baseball. Let me offer just a couple of quick thank yous. First to Trev Alberts for his leadership of Aggie athletics, but more importantly today for the way he conducted this search. It was comprehensive, it was focused, and it was all about what's best for Aggie baseball. Trev will tell you that he also received great support from the search firm TurnKey ZRG and our friend Chad Chatlos. So Chad, thank you as well for your contribution. I'd like to add my thanks to Chancellor John Sharp and our Board of Regents, represented here by Regent Jay Graham. They don't get a lot of credit for this because people don't see it. They're very busy people. They're consistently in demand all over the state of Texas and across the nation. But every time we need them, if we need them to step up to offer quick support, if we need decisions made in a short time period like you do in athletic searches, they always show up. Thank you, Regent Graham. Chancellor, thank you for your leadership. And it's going to be a great year celebrating.
And then there's our Aggie baseball players. Trev mentioned this, but I think it's worth kind of jumping back a week. They just rolled into town after returning from a spectacular season and an unbelievably thrilling ride through the College World Series in Omaha. And instead of having the chance to celebrate and be celebrated by the 12th Man, the rug got pulled out from underneath them, which was a really tough situation. They were left with an awful lot of questions and not many good answers. 18 hours or so later, Trev and I were in the room when they were back on their feet and fighting for each other, just like they did that last inning in Omaha. And in my view, they courageously, passionately and respectfully stepped into the discussion about who and what we were looking for in our next coach. So to you guys, thank you for showing us all that. When you bring courage, passion and respect to the plate, you can make a lot of things happen in this game and you can make a lot of things happen in this world, and you had a huge impact on this search. Thanks for being great. And I'll embarrass the rest of you too, because the 12th Man and Aggie baseball fans everywhere also had a big impact. The way you rallied behind the team made it crystal clear to any coaching applicant who was paying attention. And there were a number of great ones, as Trev mentioned, that this is a team you want to coach, that this is a place you want to be, and it's a fan base that you want to lead. Thank you for doing that.
Trev and I did not coordinate our comments, but you're going to notice a trend. Here we go. Before I turn it back over to Trev to introduce our new coach, I want to tell you why I like him. I don't know him very well, but I had a chance to meet with him Sunday morning. Lisa, I'm sorry that I left you with the kids again on your own. Just three things. First, he's confident, a little bit cocky, but that's kind of necessary. There's no fear, there's no apologies. There's no excuses. If Michael was an MMA fighter, I can guarantee you he would never tap out. Confident people tend to be competitive, and he most certainly is. And competitive people like to win, as Trev said, and I think he likes to win more than most. So do I. So does Trev. So do Aggies. Second, he's organized. He's detail oriented. He's structured in his thinking. He's very comprehensive in his approach and he's very clear in his focus. Organized people tend to like developing both individuals and teams, and baseball requires both. Coaching is all about making players better, and it doesn't surprise me a bit to know that that is his reputation. Since the day he came into this business, he's been making players better. It's why his players love him, and it's why Aggie fans will love him for the next 25 years or so. Last and maybe most importantly, when you combine it with those other things, he loves his family. It took Michael about 30 seconds into our first meeting to mention Lisa and the kids. But he also understands that Aggies love this family. And people who love their families tend to be loyal. And so do Aggies.
Just to be clear here, today is today. Tomorrow is the future of Aggie baseball. None of it is about someone who left. It's about someone who fought to stay and it's about a leader who will fight to keep his team together. It's about a coach who will make every player a better competitor on and off the field. And it's about a winner who knows that there is still unfinished business in Omaha, Nebraska. So I'll turn this back over to trim to introduce the next great Texas A&M University baseball coach.
TREV ALBERTS
Real quick, before we introduce Michael, people ask me all the time, what's your vision for the baseball program? I think it's our shared vision. Number one, we're going to have the best coaches in college baseball. We're going to hire them. We're going to hire servant leaders, coaches where it ain't about them. It's about serving these guys. We're going to have the best development program in college baseball because that's what he's all about, right? We're going to have the best stadium in college baseball. With your help, that of our donors and that of our regents an $80 million upgrade to Blue Bell is going to be a game changer. And it's going to be the best atmosphere and the best environment in college baseball. That's the vision. And finally, we're going to have the best fan experience because that's what changes the whole environment at Blue Bell. So there's one person, one leader that's going to help us pull all that together. Ladies and gentlemen, please join me in welcoming the 21st head coach of Aggie baseball, Michael Earley.
HEAD COACH MICHAEL EARLEY
All right. Howdy. I can't thank you guys enough for being here today. And I can't tell you how excited I am to be in front of you. Thank you, Chancellor Sharp, Regent Graham, for being here. General Welsh, thank you so much. And, Trev, thank you so much for trusting me and giving me this opportunity and understanding my vision and plan for this program. So thank you guys very much.
It's been an interesting week. Yeah...a lot has happened and I've found out a lot about myself. But in the end, I ended up where I want to be. And I'm super grateful for that. And super, super grateful for all the people who've had my back. I have family in town, my mom and dad. My mom and dad gave me every resource possible to play the game of baseball that I wanted to play. I'm from Indiana. Baseball is not a big a big thing in that state, and they gave me every opportunity I could to be a player, which kind of led to the moment of being a coach. I knew early on, even though I never wanted to hear it. Everyone's like, hey, you're going to be a really good coach. I'm like, well, I'm still playing. What are you trying to say? So they put me on that avenue, to answer both coaches. So super appreciative of them. My kids Marshall, Mia, Maddie, who's not paying attention. I love you guys. And just know every day I wake up in the morning and everything I do is for you guys. To my wife, Lisa, who started this journey with me in the Carolina League, when I was in A ball at the Chicago White Sox. You've been there every step of the way. You understand the life. And I love you so much. Thank you. Thank you for everything.
To the players, number one, this is your program. To the former players, this is your program. I am just here to give you everything I have. Every single day. I will do anything I can for anyone who has ever touched this program. And especially you guys. Anything you ever need in life, I'm confident I can help you with baseball, but I think my biggest job is to help you guys in life. So anything you guys ever need, you know that. We've met multiple times. I appreciate you guys having my back. I appreciate you guys helping me get in the door and giving me the opportunity to run right through it. So to you guys, man, I can't thank you enough. (Hayden) Schott could not be here today. He was super upset. He had golf he'd already paid for, $400 plane ticket, he told me. But I want to reassure him. Rattlin' Bog is here to stay, and we just got to keep playing the song.
I'm not sure if you saw Twitter today, but there's a couple guys who have recommitted to the school. I completely understand and everyone should understand why they got in the transfer portal and why there's still guys in there. It is. It is completely okay. I completely understand and everyone should understand that these guys have to take care and protect themselves. But we had a couple big announcements today. I'm not going to say the names, but if you got Twitter you've seen them and we got more coming. We got more coming.
Assembling my staff was and is one of the most important things I did to this entire process and why I believe a big reason why I got the job. I had a clear plan and vision and it started with them. First off, Jason Kelly, he could not make it today. Jason has taken a big leap of faith on me. We've been really good friends for a long time. He's a sitting head coach or was at the University of Washington. We previously worked together at Arizona State, a former pitching coach of the year, formerly he was at LSU before he got the head job at Washington. A ton of experience, and I'm going to need him by my side. He was a gigantic piece of the puzzle for me, and I'm super excited for you guys to get to meet him and his family. just a baseball guy. Baseball family, everyone in his family. Just a part of the game.
A couple of my staff members are here. Just stand for a second, if you don't mind. Caleb Longley and his wife Demi. Caleb was a recruiting coordinator at the University of Texas. Man, he's one of the best hitting guys I've ever been around in my life. We used to work together, a few years ago, and he went off on his way, and he's really just trailblazing college baseball. He's widely known and respected. We don't talk about who's better, but we always compete against each other. And I love that. I love working with him more. He's a big piece to my puzzle because I understand as a head coach, my responsibilities are going to be a lot different. I will not change. I will not be any less a part of the offense. But there's going to be situations and times where I'm sure we might have a meeting at 1:00, and I need to have people in the cage that can help me and know what I do to help the guys.
Will Fox and his wife Carolyn. Daughter Presley, daughter Charlotte. Thank you guys for being here. Will as well has been with the Aggie baseball program for how many years? Going on six years, three years with me. He's been with me every step of the way. He's been with me in the cage every single day. And he's worked with our infielders, who I think they're pretty solid. So I think, Will, he does the best batting practice in the country. That's another reason where every piece of the puzzle of a staff has to fit. And as I went through the list of the people I needed, I realized they were all right in front of me. They were all right in front of me because it's the people I trust and the people I know will get the job done and will work hard every single day. So that was really, really important.
Jason Hutchins. Everyone's looking around and he's not here. We have like 200 campers over there and he cannot leave them alone. We'd get in a lot of trouble if he did that. The Hutchins family is baseball royalty to me. And he's the first person I actually ever met when I came here, he showed me around, and he always laughs. And he said, all these coaches come in and they're like, what do you want to see? And he's like, you just want to see the Little League fields and the parks and the houses for your kids. He's like, no one's ever said that, but I was the same way. So we've gotten along, very similar, and I can't thank him enough. I'm wrapping up other couple pieces on my staff. our athletic trainer, Kalie Swain. I saw her earlier. I'm not sure if I can say this yet. I'm probably get in trouble, but, we're going to have another Hutchins on the development side of the program. Jace Hutchins accepted a job with me yesterday. I'm sorry if I just broke a rule and crossed over any red tape, but, he's awesome. That guy is an absolute grinder and someone we need a part of our program, and he has a big future in baseball.
What to expect? What do we expect from our baseball program? Our culture and our structure I'd say are really good. I'm going to do things my way, but the infrastructure is there, the players are there. I'm going to do it my way. But the groundwork has been laid and these guys are the reason for it. These guys have taken this program over and made it their own, and I'm just there to guide them and help them every step of the way. From a baseball standpoint, when I came here in the summer of 2021, Texas A&M baseball was widely known, and in my opinion most would agree, as a pitching school. It just had some of the best pitchers in the country. And that's not to say they didn't have offense, because there's been plenty, plenty of really great offensive players here. But my goal was I want to make this an offensive school. Now as a head coach, I want to keep it as a both school. I don't necessarily just want offense, but that that was my goal coming in and my vision like, okay, I'm going to put my stamp on this place. And over the last three years, and I think you can see with the hitters and players we've got, I think we've gotten to that point. And then from the pitching side, these guys were unbelievable this year. We've got a couple sitting right here, Ryan Prager, many more. Stewie, you guys. Unbelievable, unbelievable. And we got this program in a place where we're well-rounded and we're balanced, right? We can win in many different ways. And we showed that this year. And that's to the character. These guys are talented, but their character, as you can see in that last game, as they just fought, fought and fought, that was the reason. There were midweek games on a Tuesday...if you've ever played an SEC series at Blue Bell on a weekend and it's crazy, and then it's cold and rainy on a Tuesday...for these guys to do what they did in a non-conference setting this year, you have no idea how mentally strong you have to be. I think everyone thinks every game you're just ready to go. It's hard. It's hard, and it's a grind and a testament to you guys for your character and how you did it.
I won't keep you guys too long. I'll get long winded. I wrote like four things down, but I keep going off track. I'm going to stay on track right here. But look, here's the deal. I'm ready for this. I'm built for this. I've seen how it works. I've seen what it takes to get almost to the top here. We were so close. I've been to Omaha two of the last three years. I've worked, recruited and gone against these guys in the SEC the last three years. I completely understand. I have never been a head coach. That's fine. I've assembled a staff that has my back. But the one thing is, I know and I love Texas A&M. My knowledge and appreciation for the fan base, a very motivated fan base. I think my age, experience level is an advantage. My energy will be infectious. And I promise you, I promise you I will do everything I can to take this baseball program to new heights. I can't thank you guys enough. I can't thank you enough for being here. I look forward to seeing you out at Blue Bell. Thanks and Gig 'Em.
Trev Alberts, Michael Earley Press Conference
(rough transcript)
DIRECTOR OF ATHLETICS TREV ALBERTS
Well, as I said a little bit earlier, we're obviously very excited. Today is a really great day for our Aggie baseball program. And, just blown away again by the support of the 12th Man. just to see that many people, as my wife reminded me, she said that's twice as many people that showed up for your press conference, honey. So just to see our fans rally around Michael, our coaching staff and our student-athletes is really, really special. So great to celebrate it a little bit with our and our players and, and, just really excited about the future of our baseball program under Michael's leadership.
Trev, when did Michael become a legit candidate? From the very beginning of the players wanting to talk about his accolades and why they wanted him to actually being the frontrunner?
Yeah, it's a great question. And the reality is, I've been in a few of these searches before and there's always somebody's name thrown out. And what I am really, I don't know, just convicted about and, and determined about is to do real searches. To me, it feels like my job is, to do what's in the best interest long term of Texas A&M Athletics, or wherever you're at, is to really do a real search. And sometimes these don't happen to be real searches. The reason why you do a real search is, you learn things in a search, right? Just by talking to other candidates. You learn things about the job. You learn things about that that I hadn't thought about. And if I'm 100 percent honest, very early on when names come up...of course, well, that's a great idea. But I can't honestly tell you that I thought from from the moment we started the search that Michael Earley is likely the person that we're going to be introducing today. That's why you do a real search, right? And, so over the years in hiring coaches, there's certain things that you look for. Again, there's no guarantee. But just having clear vision, clear eyes around where we are today, where we think we can go and what are the steps in between and how we're going to execute. It really is meaningful to me. And I knew the players respected him. That's really, really important. You have to hire coaches. I believe in this day and age that the players identify with. It's really important. And it was very clear to me in talking with the players. But that's just a small component. There has to be more to it. And so the way that Michael just laid out a vision, he knew exactly what his staff was going to look like. He was very self-aware. He knew what his blind spots were. He knew the fact that he hadn't been a head coach, that, hey, I'm going to need this. And sometimes as a young person, you don't have the wisdom to do that. He did. He had the self-awareness and humility to say, I need this, I need this, I have this blind spot. And, just his overall passion, understanding...after the first Zoom I did with him, I'll just be totally frank. I was very, very pleasantly surprised. I didn't know what to expect. but I would say that he knocked it out of the ballpark on the initial Zoom. And it was after that Zoom that it became clear to me not only was he a kind of a fun candidate to talk about, he was a very serious candidate based on how he performed up front for it.
Was there a certain one thing that really stood out from his interviews, and then the fact that he had gone over to Texas for a few days with Jim Schlossnagle, did you take that into consideration as well?
No, that really wasn't a part of it. I was interested in talking to anybody who was interested in talking to me, and then I was interested in talking to some people that maybe initially weren't interested in talking to me. I mean, that's my job, right? To really reach out, but I don't know...I can't honestly say there was one single thing. Sometimes it's just a feel, it's intuition. He was very direct. I like that he's a confident young man. I like that. I don't know how you're going to coach in the SEC, in baseball, and not have some confidence about your abilities, but there's a difference between confidence and arrogance. I didn't think he had that. I think he had confidence. I think he projected the fact that he had confidence. And then he projected the fact that he had enough humility to recognize that he didn't have all the answers, and he was going to need help, and he was willing to do what it took to get the type of people that could fill in his blind spots and gaps. And to me, that's part of great leadership. I also think his leadership with the team during the course of the year was pretty evident. I don't know if it's fair for me to point to one singular thing. I think it was just a collection of all of it that really kind of sold Michael.
I'll also say this...This team was very close to winning a national championship, and, I believe they deserve the opportunity to get that done. There's unfinished business. And so I'd be naive or disingenuous to say that that doesn't enter the conversation, because I think it does. But I don't think that you hire coaches for that. You can't hire coaches for the next six months. This is a long term hire. And we hired the best person that we believe is capable of leading our baseball program going forward.
Him joining the staff at Texas, you just kind of understood that in terms of looking out for family, things like that?
Yeah, I really didn't put a lot of thought into that. At the end of the day, I mean, people have jobs. I don't know what was being communicated to the assistant coaches. All I know is when it came time to working with our search firm to reach out to potential candidates, he was willing to engage and talk and again I really appreciated the hours that the General and I had with with the players. I've always done that because I just really believe that that team with those leaders have earned the right to have a voice. It doesn't mean they're hiring the coach, but they've earned the right to have a voice. Just like Michael said, it certainly isn't my baseball program. It's theirs. And the reason why great teams win is it's a player-driven locker room in whatever sport it is. There's only so far you can go as an administrator or coach. It's ultimately the players, the players on that team. So they deserve the right to have some feedback. And again, I learned a lot about our baseball program from simply talking to them in a very vulnerable moment for them.
You talked a lot about the passion of the 12th Man and even the players, coming to you to help make this decision. Was there some pressure, at least on your front, just about getting this decision right and wanting to get it right for all those passionate fans?
Well, I don't know if that I'd call it pressure, but but I'm not naive to the importance of baseball to Texas A&M, to our community, and, generally into our university. So you just want to get it right. You want to do the work to do the best job you can. It's not about me. It's about who's the right person to lead the program. And, so, a lot of people have invested a lot. I mean, I talked to a lot of people. A lot of people had opinions. A lot of people had multiple opinions in the same day, which was interesting. But I try as hard as I can to be a willing listener. You have to recognize some of it is noise. Stay focused in on the process. And ultimately I generally believe that if you do the work, the right thing happens and emerges. And so, yes, I guess in a sense, in light of how close this team was in the sense of how the transition happened, there was extra scrutiny and probably extra focus to make sure that we did a really good job in trying to make sure that we keep this program...we don't want to take a step back. We have so much momentum in our baseball program. The last thing that we want to do is regroup and spend the next three years rethinking. We want to keep going. We've got a lot of big visions around this program. Baseball is critically important to this athletic department.
As you said in there, part of that vision is the ballpark and renovations in the stadium. Has anything changed with that? And have you had any conversations with Earley about his vision? And, just kind of what are the plans like as of this moment?
So that was a part of the conversation with all of the coaching candidates. We do have approval. I think there's a really good plan. As we've worked through it, we've done some initial, pressure testing through a third-party consultant to work with our donors on what we think is available for donor dollars, as well as premium spaces. What I'm passionate about in this new reality of college athletics is we're not going to add any more debt service to our operating budget that's not tied to revenue. I mean, it's a very simple thing, right? We can't. But the beauty of what the response was, from our work, is that we can get it done. There is the demand. We have a lot of demand for club seats, suites. We have demand for extra seats, and we have donor interest in getting it done. There's a standard here. That's what I love about Texas A&M. There's a standard here about of excellence relative to facilities. And so basically what I told every candidate and what I told Michael was I think there's a really good plan in place, but there's also stuff within it that's part of player development. And ultimately now Michael will sit down with us and our team, and he may have some slight alterations to what the previous vision was. and he'll be able to provide that input.
You've answered this question maybe a couple of different ways, but as far as the player input, what did they tell you...what did they tell you about why they thought he could do a good job as head coach that stood out to you in those conversations?
That's a good question...it was a little bit different. There was a lot of emotion in the locker room. This is a group that just came off a long season, who came that close to winning it all and then suddenly find themselves in a position that, quite frankly, most young people have never been in before. Some of us, we've been fired are we've changed jobs, and it just becomes part of your nature. They hadn't experienced that. So there was a lot of emotion. But ordinarily what I like to do is walk around and just let them know one by one. Hey, if there were a couple attributes that are important to you and what we look for in the next leader, what are they? I want to know. And, you know, while it wasn't quite that formal because of the emotion, the consistent theme was is they just want somebody who loves them. They want somebody who pours into them. They want somebody that cares about them more than just as a baseball player. They've been great baseball players their whole life. And so it's really more of the servant leadership piece. And, that's what they wanted. And they said and by the way, there's this guy named Michael, and that's who he is to us. He pours into us. We know he loves us and cares about us. And the fact that he's developed that relationship with them, then he can coach them hard. It doesn't matter what sport it is now, you can't coach student athletes hard if you don't have a relationship with them. So you start with a relationship. And it just so happened that Michael Earley...and I'm not suggesting there weren't other coaches who didn't have relationships, but in large part, many or most of the players believed in his ability to connect with the players and how important that was for them.
Being a former athlete yourself, I'm sure you've had a close relationship with coaches. Is there anything that that you can recall that really resonated with you in a conversation with any of the individuals or anything in particular that you can identify with in these conversations?
I appreciate the question and I've always tried to do this. I got multiple calls from Jace (Laviolette). I talked to Gavin (Grahovac) and talked to (others)...And I don't want to...there's some confidentiality in those conversations that I don't feel comfortable relaying other than I'll just say broadly, it was emotional. And like I said, these are young men that have big dreams. But the one thing that was very clear to me is, man, they love Texas A&M. They love being here. They don't want to leave. They want to be here. They love this place because they love the 12th Man. They love the investment of the athletic department. I think they love the quality of education they're getting. So I think I'll probably stop there. I hope you can understand why, but, they had a lot of conversations. I talked to Ted Burton. I talked to guys that had been here that aren't going to be back. So again, it's just part of trying to assemble as much information as you possibly can. Because again, this decision is something that's very impactful and impacts a lot of people.
When in these conversations, what did you learn about some of these guys and the team, and some of the individuals on this team as they kind of talk to you, talk with you through this process?
Number one, these are really intelligent young people. I mean, you can tell. Gavin's off playing right now for Team USA. They've seen things. They've been places. I mean, this quality of baseball player at a place like A&M is not an amateur. They're dealing in an NIL world now where they've had access to and in conversation with lawyers or agents and those types of things. So these are really intelligent young people that are very thoughtful, very respectful. No player demanded I do anything. Just so you know. It was nothing like that. It was not 'If you don't hire this we're leaving'. It was never stuff like that. It was, we love this place, Trev. And, can we just talk to you? And, I'm really glad I did.
HEAD COACH MICHAEL EARLEY
Thank you guys. I know there's some of you in here that I don't know yet. And I look forward to meeting you. And I look forward to working with you even when things aren't going great. It's all roses right now, but I know the first time I make a bad decision or, we lose a ball game, I understand you have questions to ask, and I understand you have a job to do, and I will always respect that. So thank you guys for just being a part of this and being here. And I look forward to getting to know each and every one of you and giving you all the time I can to help promote this baseball program and the players in it. So again, I will always respect you. Respect me. I think we'll have an awesome, great relationship. And just seeing how you guys operated in the past, I know a lot of you in here. I see there's probably going to be no issue with that. So thank you guys.
A lot of people on social media, media included, were Zapruder-filming your time at Texas at that press conference...just kind of take me through your mindset, because I'm sure you were thinking about the kids here and wanting to come back, but just that whole kind of whirlwind, that moment, and then later making the call and getting the interview?
Yeah, it was just...it was tough. It was tough coming back from the World Series and, yeah, I think about all the kids here. I was thinking about me, my family and protecting them and having a job and just so many different emotions. So, yeah, it was extremely difficult. And I'm really glad the road led me back to here. And it was a tough one to get on. But at the time, for me, I thought it was a necessary one to be just for the protection and safety of my family and us. And I get the rivalry and all of that. But I was looking out for those guys and, trying to take care of them.
The what? How do you even make sense of the last week, coming back and then obviously being introduced today? And, what do you have to say about your future?
I don't...I hope it's a long one. I hope it's a long one. Yeah, it's been about a week and it's been the craziest week of my life. So I hope you guys have got plenty to write about. yeah. It's been wild, but I've enjoyed I've enjoyed the challenge. I've really found out a lot about myself, about my wife, and the rest of my family, just kind of going through it with me. I'm glad I'm here. They asked me, how long do you want to be here? And I'm like, I'm just trying to win my first game, so I hope I won a lot of baseball games and I'm here for a long time.
Texas A&M is a really special place. And the cool thing is you got to experience it here over the last couple of years. And it's cool that Trev found someone that's not just taking a job but but knows how special this place is. Can you just kind of talk about you and your family and what this place means to you guys?
Yeah. I mean, Texas A&M, the 12th Man, the whole universe is super special. It hit me the first day I walked in. And I'm like, this place is different. And if you don't like different, that's your problem, you know? And I think the biggest thing that has taken us is the community and the people who are 97% Aggies, but it's the people in the community and the Little League parks and the elementary schools and the teachers and those kind of people I've met along the way, I mean, people I run into at the gym, that's what's made it so special for us. My neighbors, the Reed family. I love them to death. I'm so glad I can stay beside them. Those are the things that really just have made me always want to be here. I mean, I've been preparing to be the head coach here for a long time. It just happened a little quicker than I thought it was going to.
Michael, what was that like for you all up in Omaha and everything? And of course there had been talk about maybe Jim would be leaving. When did y'all first discuss that? It's only been a week since y'all are stepping off a bus...
Yeah, it was wild, man. I mean, I just found out like early morning or late in the night after the championship game that, you know, this is a possibility and just kind of talking about it with my wife, I really didn't even know what to think. Just tried to process...there's always rumors of me leaving all the time, other coaches, so you kind of deal with that throughout a season. So just like hearing it and knowing it, it was like, okay, I just lost a baseball game and I'm trying to get over that. So it was tough. It was tough. And, we got through it. We were up all night. A lot of emotions and just trying to figure out what to do, and just didn't have a lot of time to do it. So, yeah, it was a lot.
Growing up in Indiana, what were your impressions of Texas A&M from afar?
It was always just a place I thought I would never be at, you know what I'm saying? I'm like Texas A&M. I knew what it was, but it didn't really hit me yet. And then I remember being in High-A baseball, Carolina League, eating. I think it was Johnny Menzel's first football game. I think they're playing Florida and they got beat, am I right? Hope I'm right. I remember watching this dude run around and then I'm like, okay. He kind of drew me to watching the football games. And then when I told my son when we left Arizona State, I'm showing my age here a little bit. I told my son we're going to Texas A&M. And he goes where Mike Evans went? So I'm kind of in that era a little bit. I've always been a fan since then. I don't know why I just kept watching. And something has always drawn me to this place. One thing I didn't say, but the 12th Man game was on January 2nd. And that's my wedding anniversary. So I saw that the other day outside Brookshire. I had no idea. I was like, oh, that's pretty cool. So I just...I don't know why. Maybe that's weird, but I'm just feel super connected to this place.
Your career at A&M, you went from volunteer to full time with the rule change. And then this. Does it seem like when you look back at it, there was just some fortuitous steps along the way that kind of led you to where you are today?
Yeah, I've stayed in the role. I did for a while because of, honestly, the institutions I've worked at and what they've been able to provide financially and role they've been able to provide. I could have easily, since my first year of coaching, left for a title of this guy or that guy, but I played it out where I was never going to take any job. It had to be the right job. So yeah, to answer your question, no, I think everything I've done has prepared me for this moment. Some might think it's a little sped up, but I don't, because I've been preparing for it every day.
And what did it mean to you to see that kind of groundswell of support from the players and their push for you?
Yeah it's awesome. Every now and then, you put your arm around a player and you tell them you love them. And I know it, but for the most part, you just coach them and for them to to see it and to feel it and to know that I care about them means it means everything to me. I mean, it is truly baseball. Second, for me, I gotta win baseball games. I fully understand that. But how I treat these people as people, and the relationships we build, they're all going to be different. But when they walk out of there, they'll know I respect them, I love them, I care about them, and whoever they are, I'll do the best for them to succeed.
But for you to, through all the events, be able to have your first head coaching job at a program like this and one that you're familiar with, just what has that meant to you and what is that been like?
It means a ton. It means everything to me, and it doesn't get lost on me, the responsibility that's been put in my hand. So I can't tell you how excited we are to be here and to be around new people and to be at Blue Bell Park and just fully, fully pour ourselves into the community and to the university. we've done that since we've been here, and we're going to continue to do it. And I hope to impact as many people as I can and get to know as many people as I can and do just the very best job I can. In the end, trying hard is not going to be good enough, but I promise you, I'm going to try my hardest and everything we do and I'm going to make mistakes. But every mistake I make, I'm going to learn from and I'm going to get better from it.
You talked about the players support that they showed towards you. What were those conversations like and how much influence with talking to the guys in the portal and bringing some guys back?
Yeah, we've been having conversations and we were starting off really well. And like I said before, I had no problem with those guys going in the portal. It's just the nature of the game, what we're in right now, we're still working through some stuff with with guys. It's been interesting to say the least. You're recruiting guys that you already recruited and they understand. But they have questions for me and it's my job to give them those answers. So it's been an interesting process to say the least. But I really like where we're at with it. And it's just there's a lot of players, right? We're not just talking about this year's team. I got a big time recommitment today from who I think's the best 2025 hitter from California in the country. And there's some other guys I got to meet with this week. So it's just a constant battle, from every single class. Not just the ones we have, but my main focus is on this year's team, and I like where we're going so far.third round.
I wanted to ask you about Jason Kelly and just why that hire made sense and how much you think his head coach experience will help you?
Oh, it's going to be huge for me. That was a big part of this deal for me and a big part of selling my plan. And I'm just glad I could pull it off. He's an amazing human, amazing person, but he's a phenomenal baseball coach. I mean, this guy is super well respected, and he's also super connected on the West Coast, which is important to me. If you've seen over the last couple of years, there's probably more players from the West Coast on Texas A&M baseball than I don't know...I'm not a historian, but my goal has always been, you're going to get the best players out of the state of Texas. That's going to be the bulk of it. And if I can grab some of the best players from Arizona, California and places over there, that's what I want to do. So JK is going to be a big part of that. I mean, he's been in the SEC. Jay Johnson trusted him enough to make him his first hire when he was at LSU. So, he's obviously a pretty successful coach. So I like where we're at with JK, and I think you guys are going to really enjoy and really like what he has. Every pitching coach has a different style. And JK, just working with him, he's just really, really good.
There were multiple reports that Schloss made known for quite a while before the end of the season that he was going to go to Texas. I'm wondering if anything seemed off to you in the last month or two. And did you feel like that distracted the team at all down the stretch?
Nothing seemed off to me. Nothing seemed off to me. He worked really, really hard, and so did everyone else, to push his team to the very end. I think we were a swing of the bat away from winning the national championship. So, I never saw one coach do anything that would hurt this baseball team. I never saw anyone stop coaching. I hear rumors all the time. I mean, I've heard rumors since I've been here, so we just try to move on from those. But I never saw anyone stop coaching baseball or pushing hard or pushing the coaches hard. everyone did their job every single day, from what I saw.
I'm curious about the interview process. When did you find out that you were going to get an interview? What was that preparation process like? And I know you've talked about the clear vision. How did you go about putting that vision together to present to him?
Really quick because I already had it. I already had the vision of what I wanted to do. I prepared obviously, so I didn't trip over myself. But the biggest part was presenting who I thought was going to be the staff, because I had an idea. Right? But then you got to pick up the phone and make those conversations. You're calling a sitting head coach and telling him, like, hey, this is my vision, and you've got to sell it to him in just a couple hours. Good thing we already had a good relationship. So, preparation was tough for sure. And he gave me a fair shot. I fully understand that the players opened this door for me, right? They did, but I had to hit the marks and give them my vision and be super clear about it. And I made it clear to them as well. The players cannot pick the coach. They're not going to leave if I'm not the head coach here. They just want to be here if I am the head coach. And I just wanted to make that clear to them.
You talked a lot about family. What was it like telling your family and your kids that you were going to be coming back to A&M first?
They're really excited. Tears of joy from my wife, which she tends to do. Kids were excited. I think my son is mainly concerned with the fact that he doesn't have to switch baseball teams. Plays for the Twelve, so he's really excited to not go on a new team. We're super tight with our neighbors, and they don't have to leave them. And they love being at Blue Bell Park. So they were extremely excited. Talk about a whirlwind for them. 11, 8 and 6. It was a lot. But I mean, now that we have a little bit of time to process, they've had more than me, we're just elated.
And then, you talked about getting a couple of commitments from current players, what's it going to mean to maybe have a nucleus from last year's team that was so close to winning a championship coming back next year and possibly adding some some more guys from that on that list?
Yeah, it means a lot. I want to be here with them and I understand the age we live in with the portal. Some of these guys are making business decisions and that's just what it is. So I want to try to get as many of them as I can. And there's decisions now as a head coach that I'm going to have to make. I wish we had them all. I don't think that's going to be the case. But if we can get the core nucleus that would be awesome. So, again, it's kind of part of the nature of the game we're in. If you don't like it, too bad. I don't think it's changing. So I fully embrace where we're at in college, I guess amateur sports, you call it, and I'm fully prepared to have all those tough conversations with them. But yeah, I would love every single one of them back.
