AUSTIN, Texas — Ahead of No. 2 Texas traveling to Auburn for a critical SEC baseball series, coach Jim Schlossnagle told reporters on Thursday at UFCU-Disch Falk Field that two-sport athlete Jonah Williams’ shoulder surgery earlier this week “went great.”
Williams, who was injured during the 2025 football season while playing safety for the Longhorns, has been absent from Schlossnagle’s lineup since exiting a 14-2, run-rule victory over USC Upstate on 6. A late-inning dive for a ball in the outfield led to Williams going under the knife, ending his sophomore season after appearing in eight games.
“He definitely needed it,” Schlossnagle said. “We did get a chance to talk to him and his parents and the doctor. There's no question, once they got in there, there's no chance that he was able to survive through a season and be ready for football, much less play baseball.
"I’m glad Jonah is getting some clarity.”
While on the mend, Schlossnagle has encouraged Williams to go “all in” on football. Schlossnagle, who’s been in contact with Steve Sarkisian and regarding Williams’ spring plans, wants Williams to focus on learning Will Muschamp’s defense and getting reacquainted with coach Blake Gideon, who spearheaded the football program’s recruitment of Williams before leaving the Forty Acres to accept a position as Georgia Tech’s defensive coordinator for the 2025 season.
“Sark and I have spoken and he can now go, really, all in,” Schlossnagle said. “I encouraged him to go all in on being a great teammate in football, learning the defense, just being over there all the time. He's more than welcome, obviously, and I want him in our dugout during the games, but he doesn't need to be at our practices or do anything like that.”
Schlossnagle made it clear that Williams is “still a two-sport athlete.” There have been discussions between Schlossnagle, Sarkisian and football general manager Brandon Harris about Williams continuing to pursue both sports at Texas, with Schlossnagle saying that Sarkisian and the football program are “100% supportive of him being a baseball player next January.”
Schlossnagle remains “super supportive of him being a football player." Although the Texas faithful will continue debating whether Williams would be better off picking one sport over the other, Schlossnagle said he and Sarkisian are staying true to their word, having told Williams during the recruiting process that he could play both sports for the Longhorns.
“The reason he's at Texas is because we told him he could be a two-sport athlete,” Schlossnagle said. “When I was at (Texas) A&M, we told him the same thing. So did LSU. So did Ohio State. I probably shouldn't say this, but sometimes people are like, 'Yeah, we want him at Texas! We want him to be a two-sport guy!' And then, when he gets here, 'go pick.' Well, that's not the deal. You don't get to pick. He gets to pick. Usually, in my experience — I've coached a lot of them — they eventually pick. But this is a unique one. This guy is really good. I don't know what kind of football player he is; I know what kind of baseball player he can be. Everybody needs to get off his back. This guy loves Texas. He loves football and he loves baseball. He's all in on his teammates. He needs to do a better job himself of getting prepared for each sport, and he's learning that as a young, amateur player, but we need to be more supportive of him and less critical."
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