Texas baseball’s 2026 season fell short of the ultimate goal of a national championship, ending at the College World Series during head coach Jim Schlossnagle’s second season in Austin.
Now Schlossnagle and the Longhorns are tasked with trying to return to Omaha for the 2027 season with a retooled roster as Texas brings in 23 new players, having 16 incoming freshmen and seven transfers.
While most coaches depend on and look toward their veteran players to step up and help lead a team, after major roster turnover, Schlossnagle has been relying on a pair of talented sophomores this offseason.
Schlossnagle singled out sophomore outfielder Anthony Pack Jr. and pitcher Sam Cozart as the players setting the ideal standard in more ways than one.
“(With) the awards those guys won, they’re super famous,” Schlossnagle said on Monday. “(When) we have guys on visits, they want to look and see what Cozart’s like and be around Pack. … That can be a good or bad thing in terms of how they handle it and it’s been awesome in every way. I couldn’t ask for more from those guys from a leadership standpoint.”
Both second-year players were honored following their stellar freshman campaigns on the Forty Acres.
Pack was named Southeastern Conference Freshman of the Year and Baseball America’s National Freshman of the Year, while Cozart earned Stopper of the Year by the National Baseball Writers of America, given to the nation’s top relief pitcher, and National Freshman Pitcher of the Year.
Now, as established sophomores, the two have worked together to become the program’s focal leaders, helping set the tone for the rest of the team.
“(Pack and I) have leaned on each other a lot,” Cozart said. “Whether it be decisions about how the team is going to be run, what the culture needs to be or how to enforce the culture.”
Pack and Cozart have also become examples Schlossnagle can point to as proof of concept of Texas’ freshman development.
Pack heads into year two using his freshman campaign as an opportunity to show the new faces what it takes to have a productive season with the Longhorns.
“(I) had a pretty good season, and I just want to show what it takes because it doesn’t just happen,” Pack said. “It came with hard work, it came with discipline, so I think showing that to everybody … is huge.”
And Cozart, who found a crucial role as a freshman, prepares to take a direct approach to being a leader.
“We have a rule for this team that leading by example really isn’t leading — you’re just doing the right thing,” Cozart said. “I lead by bringing them along with me, showing them how I do things, how older guys do things, because we’ve been doing it longer.”
Both Pack and Cozart were wide-eyed, coveted freshmen ahead of the 2026 season. Now, after a year in the program, the duo is set to lead with more than just their play on the diamond in 2027.
