Michael Earley Named Head Coach by Texas A&M

The Texas A&M University Aggies hired Michael Earley for their head coach position on Sunday, June 30.

Got our guy ????

Welcome back home to Aggieland, @earleybaseball!

????: https://t.co/HCmZmMb63Y#GigEm pic.twitter.com/FakDC3BuW2

— Texas A&M Baseball (@AggieBaseball) June 30, 2024

Earley was an assistant in the Texas A&M coaching staff in 2024. It was the only member of the staff that did not go to the University of Texas Longhorns with their hiring of former Aggies head Jim Schlossnagle on June 25 after the NCAA Division I College World Series National Championship Series at Charles Schwab Field in Omaha, Nebraska.

Aggies athletic director Trev Alberts announced the hiring of Earley a week after Schlossnagle decided to take the University of Texas Longhorns Job after Game Three of the 2024 CWS NCS after TexAgs reporter Richard Zane used the last question of position opportunity in the state capital during the CWS post-game press conference.

Nolan Cain and Max Weiner also went to the Longhorns coaching staff after Schlossnagle’s hire.

Weiner is an assistant coach, and Cain is the associate head coach for Texas.

Former Major League Baseball shortstop Troy Tulowitzki was re-hired to the Longhorns coaching staff as their hitting coach for the 2025 regular season on June 30.

Texas A&M finished the 2024 season 53-15 after appearing in their first CWS NCS and tied for the second-most wins in program history.

In three seasons with A&M, Schlossnagle led the Aggies to a 135-62 record and two trips to the College World Series.

Earley last season helped Braden Montgomery, Gavin Grahovac, and Jace LaViolette become the first teammates in program history to each surpass 20 home runs in a single season.

Earley has been with the Aggies program since the 2021 season as an assistant coach and was with the Arizona State University Sun Devils from 2017-21 for his first job in coaching as an Assistant Coach in Tempe.

The 36-year-old from Anderson, Ind., was part of Tracy Smith’s staff, where he built a reputation for developing hitters. His most notable work was helping Spencer Torkelson rise to the Detroit Tigers’ No. 1 overall draft pick in the 2020 MLB Draft.

Earley also developed players who were in the 2020 MLB Draft, such as Alika Williams, who was selected 37th overall in the first round by the Tampa Bay Rays, and Trevor Hauver, who was selected 99th overall in the third round by the New York Yankees, and Gage Workman, who was selected 102nd overall in the fourth round by the Detroit Tigers. This was the only year that the draft was five rounds.

Earley helped Arizona State finish the 2019 regular season with 94 homers, easily eclipsing the Pac-12 record for the BBCOR era, surpassing the Oregon State University Beavers with 67 in 2018.

The Sun Devils were the first Power 5 program in the BBCOR era to have multiple players hit the 20-HR mark, with 23 by Torkelson and 22 by Hunter Bishop.

Arizona State led the nation in home runs with 92 during the 2019 regular season when Earley was an assistant with the program.

Before his professional career, Earley played at Indiana University from 2008-10 before being drafted by the Chicago White Sox in the 29th round of the 2010 MLB Amateur Draft.

Earley made it to Triple-A Charlotte in 2013 before spending the 2014 season with Double-A Birmingham.

Earley played his last year of professional baseball in the Frontier League in 2015 with the Southern Illinois Miners and played in 96 games, batting .325, ripping 125 hits, 26 doubles, four triples, ten home runs, 61 RBI, five stolen bases, 27 walks, 42 strikeouts, and a .865 OPS before he joined the New York Mets organization as an associate scout in 2016.

“Michael is a very talented coach and recruiter, but what stood out to me was his character and the relationships he has built with his current and former players. During our interview process, he was really impressive. I think it helps that he knows our current roster, which finished second in the country, and he also knows Aggieland and the 12th Man. I am excited about the future of Aggie baseball,” Alberts said on the program’s website.

Oklahoma and Texas will be in the first year of the Southeastern Conference for the 2025 season after being in the Big 12 Conference since 1997.

Texas A&M and Texas have not been in the same conference since the Aggies left the Big 12 Conference after the 2012 regular season.

Texas A&M is 60-102 all-time against Texas.

The Aggies also hired Jason Kelly as their new pitching coach for the 2025 season after he left the University of Washington on Sunday.

Photo Credit: A general view of Texas A&M Aggies batting helmets. (Photo by Michael Wade/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)