Schlossnagle takes TCU job

Wednesday, July 9, 2003 | 10:58 a.m.

Longtime assistant appears next in line for Rebels job

Jim Schlossnagle has talked about his desire to coach one collegiate baseball program for "20 or 25 years" and to take that team to the College World Series.

That program will not be UNLV. Multiple sources in Texas and Las Vegas confirmed that Schlossnagle accepted an offer Tuesday afternoon to replace the retired Lance Brown at Texas Christian University.

Schlossnagle, 32, was to be introduced as the new Horned Frogs coach this morning at a news conference at TCU in Fort Worth.

When reached late Tuesday in Corpus Christi, Texas, where he has been on vacation with his wife, Kami, and their two young children, Schlossnagle would neither confirmed nor deny his status with the TCU job.

Meanwhile, UNLV officials scheduled a news conference for later today to introduce Schlossnagle's successor. Indications were that Buddy Gouldsmith, Schlossnagle's longtime assistant, would get the job, although UNLV senior associated athletic director Jerry Koloskie would not confirm that.

Koloskie deferred comments about Gouldsmith to interim athletic director Fred Albrecht, who was unavailable for comment.

"I'd prefer that that would come from (Albrecht)," Koloskie said. "I'll wait until that happens. I don't make that decision ... but Buddy has done a great job, and he certainly would make a great head coach."

Gouldsmith, a Sacramento native, served on the same Tulane staff where Schlossnagle earned wide acclaim as a pitching coach.

Schlossnagle brought Gouldsmith with him when he got the top job at UNLV.

Left out of the mix apparently was Community College of Southern Nevada head coach Tim Chambers, who guided the Coyotes to the junior college national championship and made no secret of interest in the UNLV job.

"Obviously, we just built a powerhouse where we're at," said Chambers, 38, who also serves as CCSN's athletic director. "I'm happy where I'm at. But if UNLV were to call, I definitely would listen.

"If I told you I never had interest in being (the Rebels') coach, I'd be lying to you. I have aspirations of being a Division I coach.

"If that's the right fit, I don't know."

Apparently, Texas Christian was the right fit for Schlossnagle and his family.

Kami Schlossnagle hails from the Dallas-Forth Worth area, and Jim Schlossnagle has said that he places a high value on his children growing up close to relatives. He is from Maryland.

In his two years at UNLV, Schlossnagle guided the Rebels to a 77-47 record, which included just the team's second NCAA tournament appearance in 14 years in May.

Despite the UNLV situation, Chambers apparently has become as hot a commodity as Schlossnagle. He said multiple NCAA Division I programs have contacted him, gauging his interest in coaching their baseball teams, since the end of the Coyotes' title season. However, he declined to name them.

Sam Popowcer, who became the president of the Rebels' Grand Slam booster club after befriending Schlossnagle, was disappointed to learn that a friend is leaving the UNLV program but happy for his next opportunity.

"I really don't feel that (UNLV) let him slip away," Popowcer said. "I feel they, too, have come to respect the situation that was brought to them, with what he's done for the program.

"They respected the fact that this was the best thing for his family and what he truly wanted.

"In fairness to him, they didn't want to stand in the way of that."