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The Texas A&M baseball program made history this season by becoming the first preseason No. 1 team to miss the NCAA Tournament since 1991. It was a truly awful start to a new era.
The Aggies were forced to replace head coach Jim Schlossnagle in the offseason. Michael Earley was promoted to fill the role.
The coach, who was previously on staff as a hitting assistant, took over a program that finished one win away from a national title. In the 2024 campaign, Texas A&M won the first game of the College World Series final before dropping back-to-back contests to lose the three-game set.
Hours after the season ended, Schlossnagle announced a traitorous move to rival Texas. Earley was hired thanks to overwhelming support from players. He was able to keep the roster together when many threatened to leave.
His lack of head coaching experience didn’t seem to matter. He signed a four-year deal with his base salary of $900,000 set to increase each season.
Texas A&M baseball was the preseason national championship favorite.
Those hopes took an immediate hit following an 11-12 start with six straight losses to open SEC play. Earley caught much of the flak.
Frustrations continued to build as the year went on. The regular season ended with a 3-9 finish in league play, headlined by a sweep at the hands of their former coach.
The Aggies made a bit of noise in the SEC Tournament, but not enough to make the NCAA Regional field. Michael Earley’s buyout became an immediate talking point.
The program would owe the first-year head coach $3 million if fired this offseason. That total is a sum of his base salary across the three remaining years on his deal.
Athletic director Trev Alberts was not willing to pay up according to college baseball writer Kendall Rogers.
Jimbo Fisher played a role in that decision!
Rogers claims that Texas A&M had been in talks with not one, but two potential baseball replacements. They then cut contact. Rogers assumes money played a role.
The issue Texas A&M has here is that [Trev Alberts] was partly hired to get finances under control… A&M cut off communication with at least two candidates totally out of the blue. Why it did that… I have no clue.
At least one candidate would’ve most certainly taken the job. The other one would’ve had a high % as well. Ultimately, my external view is that A&M probably didn’t like the idea of paying Earley $3M… buying out the new coach, and paying for his new coaching staff.
-Kendall Rogers
Rogers went on to blast the Aggies for their eagerness to hand out massive contracts for relatively low success. Earley’s base salary was fully guaranteed despite his non-existent head coaching resume, but he doesn’t hold the only regrettable deal. No one will ever forget the Jimbo Fisher debacle.
Fisher signed a 10-year agreement worth $75 million in 2017. That number was bumped to $95 million in 2021, fully guaranteed. He was fired two years later.
The school is still paying the former football coach his more than $75 million buyout. He received nearly $20 million of that cash up front and will continue to rake in $7.2 million annually through 2031.
Texas A&M didn’t want to add to those debts by firing its baseball coach. Michael Earley will be back for Year 2 in College Station.