Editor’s note: This story has been updated.
The search for the next baseball coach at TCU ended up in the Horned Frogs’ locker room
TCU announced the promotion Tuesday of recruiting coordinator and pitching coach Kirk Saarloos, who has been at the school for 12 seasons. He replaces Jim Schlossnagle, who took the Horned Frogs to five College World Series appearances in 18 seasons before leaving for the coaching job at Texas A&M this month.
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐠𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐧. 🐸⚾️🇺🇸
— TCU Baseball (@TCU_Baseball) June 15, 2021
Allow us to reintroduce @kirk_saarloos, head baseball coach. #FrogballUSA | #GoFrogs pic.twitter.com/mdSYSgcHpS
“It became very apparent from our meetings with numerous current and former baseball student-athletes that this program is about the family-like atmosphere and amazing culture that exists among the players, coaches and staff,” TCU athletic director Jeremiah Donati said. “One of the biggest objectives in this search was finding a coach who would make preserving these values a priority.”
A former major league pitcher from 2002-2008 with Oakland, Houston and Cincinnati, Saarloos pledged not to pursue major changes.
“There’s no reason to turn this place upside down,” Saarloos said at a press conference on campus. “It’s been successful.”
The one thing that eluded TCU under Schlossnagle was a national title.
“We’re not done yet,” Saarloos said. “We haven’t reached what we wanted to reach.”
TCU went 41-19 this season, tying for the Big 12 regular-season title with Texas and then winning the conference tournament. But the Horned Frogs, the No. 6 national seed, were eliminated in the Fort Worth Regional.
Saarloos showed a knack at TCU for recruiting and developing pitching talent. Over the last nine seasons, the Horned Frogs rank fourth nationally in team ERA (3.26).
TCU Chancellor Victor Boschini called Saarloos “one of the main ingredients in the secret sauce of the success of our baseball program.”
