Texas A&M Set to Hire Michael Earley
After a wild two weeks, Texas A&M Baseball has found their next man for the job. Reports are that the Aggies will hire Micheal Earley as its 21st head coach. Easley brings familiarity and continuity as he has been on staff, the hitting coach, for the last three seasons. We will dive into the Aggies since Earley has been on campus, his coaching tenure before College Station, and how he can quickly win over the Administration and fanbase.
A&M Under Earley While In Aggieland
Earley will take over for former head coach, Jim Schlossnagle, now the head man at bitter-rival, and now conference foe again, Texas. The Aggies finished 2024 with a 53-15 record including a 19-11 SEC record en route to the national runner-up following their loss to Tennessee in the Mens College World Series. Joining the Aggies in 2021 with an immediate impact as the team numbers increased. In addition to numbers, the Aggies made their first MCWS appearance, since 2017, after batting .289 as a team.
Under Earley, the Aggies have taken the “swing at strikes, take balls” approach and it’s been effective. To further this point, in his first season, Jack Moss hit .380 as well as Dylan Rock who would have 19 home runs with 65 runs batted in. The simplistic approach worked early but could it continue?
The resounding answer to this question was simple, Yes as Aggies fans would see program historic numbers at the plate. In 2024, A&M would lead the nation in walks, with 422, and 4th nationally, in home runs, with 136. This total would be a program record for the Aggies. In addition to this record, A&M would finish 23rd in runs per game, with 8.5 and the 575 runs scored on the year would finish them sixth nationally. The offense would come alive for this program that sat atop the SEC, the nation’s most challenging conference.
Others Stop On The Road To Aggieland
Before College Station, Earley would reside, for five seasons, in sunny Tempe, Arizona as an assistant on the Sun Devils staff at Arizona State. In his time there, Earley would assist with molding future MLB stars such as Spencer Torkelson. The 2018 Sun Devils team would be loaded with youth as the nation’s youngest roster. In that season, Torkelson, the nation’s leader in home runs, with 25, and Gage Canning, who with 11 triples would also lead the nation, would prove that age is just a number and the talent was there.
The 2019 season would be much of the same as the Sun Devils would, again, excel at the plate. That season, Arizona State, with 94, would lead the nation in home runs. The Sun Devils would see a team batting average of.311 along with three players hitting double-digit home runs. In addition to this, the Arizona State roster would feature two unanimous All-Americans in Torkelson and Hunter Bishop.
Earley would assist in Torkelson being the first overall pick of the Tigers in the 2020 MLB Draft. The above team stats combined with the individual accolades tell the story of Earley and his devotion to developing a winning culture. This culture has been proven effective at now two programs and is a large part of why this is a great hire.
Already Winning
While the Earley’s tenure will not officially begin until February when the season begins he is already winning. We spoke about his assistance in molding talented players for the next level and this is because he understands what it takes to get there.
Earley was drafted, to the Chicago White Sox, from Indiana, in the 2010 draft. The 29th-rounder would play in six seasons professionally and peak at the AAA level while with the Charlotte Knights. The next step was with the Mets as he would be an associate scout for the organization.
Some may ask “How does this mean he is already winning?”
With talent such as Jace LaViolette, Jackson Appel, Hayden Schott, and others Earley has proven he can develop talent. This will attract talent which will produce wins not only for the Aggies but at the next level. Earley understands the grind of professional baseball and the work players have to devout to achieve that goal.
Mentioning attracting talent, Earley can easily do this as he has worked in the “portal era” with success. We mentioned the numbers for Appel and Schott in 2024 specifically for this reason. Both players were portal additions for the Aggies in 2024. Schott, who transferred in from Ivy League Columbia, and Appel, who transferred from Penn, were vital to the MCWS’s success.
What a Hire
If these plus the above successes can continue the first hire for new AD, Trev Alberts, could be a splash. Alberts, who took the job in March, has had the crosshairs on him since Schloss ran to Austin. With the news of his hiring Earley, he may have eased some pain in Aggieland with a proven developer of talent and winner.
