Kendall Rogers critical of Texas' decision to part ways with pitching coach

After more than a decade of working with Texas baseball head coach David Pierce, pitching coach Sean Allen got the ax on Monday following the Longhorns’ exit from the College World Series. D1Baseball’s Kendall Rogers reported the news, calling it a “bizarre move,” and noting that Allen was the outlet’s 2021 assistant coach of the year.

Allen’s Longhorns pitching staff ranked 26th (4.22) in the nation in ERA and led the Big 12 Conference in ERA.

On top of calling the firing an odd decision, Rogers stuck up for the job Allen did considering several setbacks for the pitching unit in 2022.

“I’ll be pretty honest — given the fact that Tanner Witt had Tommy John surgery and Aaron Nixon wasn’t the same guy this year, I thought Allen did a pretty good job with that #Texas pitching staff,” Rogers tweeted. “Someone is going to get a very, very good assistant.”

Sean Allen coached with David Pierce at Texas, Tulane and Sam Houston State. In 2020, he transitioned to the role of pitching coach after serving as hitting coach and recruiting coordinator from 2017-19.

On Sunday, the Texas Longhorns exited the College World Series with a loss to in-state rival Texas A&M. Notre Dame handed them their first loss in Omaha 7-3, followed by a 10-2 loss to the Aggies.

Expectations were high in Austin this year and even with a College World Series appearance, they were not met. Success in the regular season did not translate in Omaha. Pierce decided something within their program needed to change.

A new pitching coach and recruiting coordinator will be entering one of the top programs in the country, where expectations will remain high. Meanwhile, Sean Allen is now up for grabs.

Davis Pierce discusses takeaways from Texas season

Texas may not have achieved its ultimate goal in Omaha, but Pierce is still proud of what his team accomplished.

The Longhorns skipper spoke about what he’ll take with him moving forward from this season.

“I hadn’t thought about that too much. But I will say that this group has been in Omaha three out of the last four years. And that’s, even at the University of Texas, you can’t take that for granted. It’s hard to get here. Definitely even harder to win,” Pierce said. “But it’s really tough to sustain what our program has sustained. And I’m just proud of that group. Since the COVID year, I think we’ve played 17 games, won 14 of those. And then we’ve won 50 and 47 games over 111 games and that two-year-and-short period.

“So these kids have just been incredible of just how they really worked and the routines and loved being at the ballpark. They really have been remarkable. And you watch it every single day. And to watch kids go take ground balls on their own where a lot of kids want to go hit in the cage. And just helping each other and being so receptive to coaching.”