Jim Schlossnagle's early portal strategy and the impact of Josh Livingston addition

Entering year two at the helm of a program, you often see head coaches make significant changes to their staffs and rosters to better match what they believe will make a winning club. This happens in every sport at the collegiate level; coaches now have a full offseason to bring in their guys and work off of what they saw in the year prior.

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For Texas football coach Steve Sarkisian, this meant letting go of 18 players from the Tom Herman era and adding two new offensive minds to the staff. For Schlossnagle, the efforts won’t need to be extreme. He didn’t go the baseball equivalent of 5-7; Texas won the SEC regular season championship and 44 games, but that doesn’t mean we won’t see turnover from year to year.

This has already started with the portal opening on June 2. In three days, Texas has already seen nine players (alongside a few non-rostered carryovers from 2024) enter the portal, but the majority of these players aren’t gut-wrenching losses. Tommy Farmer IV is the only player of that group to have played in any form for Schlossnagle this past season, and even he lost his starting spot late in the year.

While not completely unexpected, losing a piece of your future in Farmer does take a hit on Texas’ roster depth, but that’s why it’s so important that Texas worked so quickly on Wichita State infielder Josh Livingston.

Livingston was the only bright spot on an otherwise terrible Wichita State team. While the Shockers had the second-worst record of all AAC teams, Livingston slashed an impressive .284/.403/.555 as the only Shocker with an OPS north of .950 and double-digit home runs.

What makes the Livingston signing so important is the timing. Not only was Livingston a top-100 player in the portal according to 64Analytics, but Schlossnagle got this deal done within a day. That is really important financially for the Horns. This means that Texas likely didn’t have to spend top dollar and fight between agents and other schools for Livingston, saving money for future big-name assets.

🤘 pic.twitter.com/BHOJptH2AW

— Josh Livingston (@jlivingston45) June 4, 2025

It’s similar to winning over a recruit in football early in the cycle and never having to worry about them looking for a raise from other schools. Texas found a price it liked with Livingston and pulled the trigger immediately, and it’s obvious that he wants to be here.

Remember, the Longhorns are deeply in the running for 64Analytics’ top-three portal players: Virginia’s Eric Becker and Henry Ford, as well as Maryland’s Chris Hacopian.

Texas lost a lot of depth already, but can you really call it depth when these players didn’t have a future spot on the roster? More than anything, Schlossnagle is clearing house for his guys. He has a 17-player recruiting class coming to campus, has already signed either a starting first baseman or rotational lefty bat for 2025, and is fighting to win over the best of the best in the portal. If you have to sacrifice Tommy Farmer IV to bring in All-Americans, that’s a trade you’ll take every day.

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The Longhorns are still waiting on a decision from Rylan Galvan, Jalin Flores, and Max Belyeu when it comes to the MLB Draft, but Texas does have a solid core of bats outside of that: five returning starters, Livingston, and another four rotational players with over 35 ABs last season. The portal still has the chance to take from this group and likely will, but Schlossnagle’s aggressiveness in past portal cycles and Texas-sized budget will sort out the batting order the way he likes it for 2026.