3 realistic Texas baseball head coaching candidates
The news of the departure of Texas baseball head coach David Pierce on June 24 just opened up one of the most attractive jobs in college baseball early this summer. Texas's coaching vacancy has added some big-time drama to the college baseball coaching carousel on the final day of the College World Series in Omaha.
Top options for Texas baseball's coaching search early this week
Texas athletic director Chris Del Conte and Pierce released statements in an official release from the university on Monday morning, announcing the mutual parting of ways for the baseball program.
Pierce certainly had his fair share of successes during his eight seasons coaching the Longhorns baseball team. He won the Big 12 regular season title three times and made it to the College World Series three times in eight years.
The problem for Pierce and the Longhorns was the direction the program was trending in the last few years. Texas's results on the field and in the win column had gradually declined during the last three seasons, which is why CDC decided to part ways with Pierce now before the Longhorns join the SEC for the 2025 campaign.
Rumor has it that the Longhorns already have their shortlist of candidates, which makes sense that the news of Pierce's departure came on the same day as the final game of the College World Series.
Here are three realistic candidates for the Longhorns to possibly hire to replace Pierce as the next head coach of the baseball program.
Tom Walter, Wake Forest head coach
A more outside of the box candidate that the Longhorns could consider for the coaching search to replace Pierce is Wake Forest Demon Deacons longtime head coach Tom Walter. Now in his 15th year at Wake Forest, Walter has taken the Demon Deacons to new heights the program hasn't seen in multiple decades in the last few years.
Last season, Wake Forest was just a few wins shy of winning the program's first national title since the mid-1950s. Walter led the Demon Deacons to a first-place finish in the ACC last regular season, and the top overall seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Wake Forest's 54 wins last season also garnered Walter ACC Coach of the Year for the first time in his coaching career at Wake Forest (since 2010).
Walter has proven that he can build a program and develop talent at a very high level. He's also been an excellent proponent of the transfer portal, recruiting the No. 1 ranked transfer class for Wake Forest during the 2023 offseason.
It would probably take a hefty offer to get Walter to even consider leaving Wake Forest at this point of his coaching career. But he is definitely worth consideration for CDC outside of the usual suspects in the SEC.