Michael Earley set to be hired as 21st head baseball coach in Texas A&M history

According to reports from Brent Zwerneman of the Houston Chronicle and confirmed by TexAgs’ co-owner and executive editor Billy Liucci on Sunday morning, Michael Earley is set to be hired as the next head baseball coach at Texas A&M.

Earley spent the last three seasons as A&M’s hitting coach.

During his tenure in Aggieland, Earley helped the Aggies compile a 135-62 record and reach the Men’s College World Series twice.

An official announcement from Texas A&M is expected shortly.

Earley, 36, takes over an A&M program that finished 2024 as the national runner-up after falling to Tennessee in three games at the Men’s College World Series earlier this month. The Aggies were 53-15 overall and 19-11 in the SEC before Jim Schlossnagle departed for Austin.

This hiring is Director of Athletics Trev Alberts’ first major hire since assuming his role in Aggieland in March.

In 2024, A&M’s offense ranked among the nation’s best. The Aggies led the country in walks (422), as well as finishing fourth in home runs with a program-record 136 round-trippers, sixth in runs (575) and 23rd in runs per game (8.5) despite playing in the nation’s best college baseball conference.

This season, Jace LaViolette (29), Braden Montgomery (27) and Gavin Grahovac (23) became A&M’s first-ever 20-homer trio in program history. In just two seasons with Earley, LaViolette reached the 50-homer plateau, becoming just the third Aggie to do so. Four different players hit over .320, headlined by Ivy League transfers Hayden Schott (.335) and Jackson Appel (.331).

Earley joined Schlossnagle’s staff in Aggieland in June of 2021, and in 2022, the A&M offense slugged the program to its first MCWS appearance since 2017. That season, Jack Moss hit .380, and Austin Bost hit .360. Dylan Rock clubbed 19 homers and drove in 65. As a club, the 2022 Aggies slashed .289/.469/.398 by perfecting Earley’s simplistic-sounding “swing at strikes, take balls” approach.

Prior to coming to A&M, Earley spent five seasons on Tracy Smith’s staff at Arizona State, helping Detroit Tigers star Spencer Torkelson develop into the first-overall pick of the 2020 MLB Draft.

In 2019, the Sun Devils led the nation with 94 home runs, then a Pac-12 BBCOR-era record. That year, three ASU players hit double-digit home runs, and the Sun Devils hit .310 as a unit. The 2019 Sun Devils featured two unanimous All-Americans (Hunter Bishop & Torkelson).

The 2018 Sun Devils featured the youngest lineup in the country but included the nation's home run leader (Torkelson, 25) and triples leader (Gage Canning, 11). As a team, ASU hit .290 and slugged .446 in a lackluster 23-32 campaign.

Earley played outfield at Indiana from 2008-10 before the Chicago White Sox selected him in the 29th round of the 2010 Draft, eventually making it to Triple-A Charlotte. Following six seasons in professional baseball, Earley became an associate scout in the New York Mets organization before beginning his coaching career at Arizona State.

The Michael Earley era in Aggieland will officially begin when the Maroon & White open the 2025 campaign in mid-February.