Pierce's assistants -- Allen, Miller, and Tulowitzki -- use decade-long bond to boost Texas to success

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When Aaron Nixon struck out the final hitter of the Austin super regional to clinch Texas’ 37th trip to Omaha, David Pierce received a pat on the back from his assistant coach Philip Miller, who appeared to tell the Texas head coach “nice job.” The two stood and clapped at the edge of the dugout along with Sean Allen and Troy Tulowitzki, watching their team celebrate a trip to the College World Series.

The Longhorn staff then exchanged handshakes with the USF Bull coaches, sang the Eyes of Texas, and greeted their families through the net behind home plate. One of the four realized they should mark the occasion and asked director of player development Carli Todd, who runs Texas baseball’s wide-reaching social media accounts, to snap a picture of the group at home.

Three-quarters of that group, Pierce, Allen, and Miller, have been with each other since Pierce took the Sam Houston State job ahead of the 2012 season. The trio went from Huntsville to New Orleans when Pierce accepted the Tulane job in June of 2014 after three consecutive NCAA tournament appearances leading the Bearkats. The trend continued in New Orleans, with Pierce and company making the field of 64 in back-to-back seasons.

When Texas came calling in June of 2016, the group of Pierce, Allen, Miller, and former Texas pitching coach Phil Haig were almost disbanded. Allen was headed to Tuscaloosa to serve as an assistant for the Crimson Tide, but a couple of days after Pierce took over for Augie Garrido, Allen and Miller joined him in Austin.

The group won the Big 12 title in 2018 and reached the College World Series together. They were jubilant after topping Tennessee Tech in the super regional, a different reaction altogether from their semi-subdued celebration on Sunday.

Those were the highs. There were also lows.

Texas was 27-27 in 2019, and Pierce had to make a change. He parted ways with Haig and eventually hired Tulowitzki to coach infielders and hitters, two responsibilities previously belonging to Allen. Knowing how valuable he was to his staff and recruiting efforts, Pierce switched Allen’s responsibilities to pitchers and he has overseen the Texas hurlers ever since.

Now almost 10 years after joining forces at Sam Houston, Pierce, Allen, and Miller, plus Tulowitzki, have added another successful chapter to their decade-long story, and once again are on the doorstep of college baseball’s pinnacle. In nine full seasons as a head coach, Pierce has made the postseason in eight of them. Allen and Miller have been with him every step of the way, and Tulowitzki added an expertise that accentuated all their strengths.

“Philip and Sean have been with me at three other schools,” Pierce said Sunday. “Three schools, ten years. That’s unheard of. To maybe be at one school for a long time is something that’s becoming more and more unusual, but to be at three schools together and just continuing to trust each other and respect each other, it doesn’t get any better than that.”

The group remains tight knit, even with the addition of Tulowitzki. After ten seasons working together in baseball, and creating friendships that extended off the field, Pierce was happy to explain how much his assistants meant to him. Not only did they learn from him, but he learned from them as well.

That knowledge is then disseminated to the players, and sometimes it takes some stern talking-tos to get that message across to 18-24 year olds. Other times, it takes work creating a mentor-student relationship that can stand those animated interactions.

“They will absolutely kill some players when it comes to working, and when it comes to backing off and having some fun with them, creating this relationship that the players trust them so much,” Pierce said.

Tulowitzki’s impact on the program as volunteer assistant following his playing career has been almost immeasurable, like the improved approach at the plate compared to earlier in Pierce’s tenure. A team .980 fielding percentage this season provides more concrete evidence of what he’s helped the Longhorns achieve.

But “Tulo” is only in his second year of coaching after he retired from the New York Yankees in the summer of 2019. Allen has been with Pierce since he left Florida International for Sam Houston State ahead of the 2012 season. Both Pierce and Allen are Houston alums and served on Raynor Noble’s Cougar staff in the 2002 season, Pierce as an assistant and Allen as a student assistant.

“For Sean to move from infield, to (pitchers), to now go ‘I trust you, I know you can handle this,’” Pierce said. “He’s one the best pitching coaches in the country and people really don’t know about him yet because he just switched over.”

Allen’s name has been associated with several head coaching openings. Miller has been in contention for some of the same jobs. Miller, who works with catchers and outfielders and coaches first base, returned to Sam Houston State in 2012 after a previous assistant stint to work with Pierce. Their fellow assistant, Tulowitzki, has a much shorter coaching career, but all three have made an impact on the 2021 Longhorns.

“Philip, the guy is just non-stop,” Pierce said. “He’s gotten better and better because of Tulo, but he’s also made Tulo better in the college game. They’re like two peas in a pod, they’re inseparable, and they just pick each other’s brain.”

The quality of the staff is indicated by the coaching market. Both Allen and Miller were simultaneously considered for an open SHSU following the 2019 season before the Bearkats elevated an assistant. Allen was one of the finalists to succeed Matt Bragga at Rice before they hired Jose Cruz, Jr.

But until one becomes the custodian of their own programs, their role is to help Pierce make the best decisions he can for his team. And with the results of 2021 in mind, they’ve helped him do just that.

“I’m just proud of them,” Pierce said. “They’ve been special.”