Texas fires David Pierce after eight seasons

Following a 36-24 season that included early exits from the Big 12 Tournament and the College Station Regional, Texas Longhorns head coach David Pierce was fired on Monday morning after eight seasons and a 297-162 record on the Forty Acres.

“CDC and I met after the season and we mutually agreed that the best thing for the program was to go in a different direction. It’s been an honor and privilege to lead this program for the last eight years. It certainly is a time I will always cherish as a coach, and I am so appreciative of The University of Texas for the opportunity,” Pierce said in a statement released by the school.

“Thank you to Longhorn Nation, the fan base, our support staff, student assistants and the media who covered us so well. I especially want to thank the coaches and our former and current players who helped us win a lot of games and represented our program in a first-class manner. Thank you all for your hard work, dedication and commitment to Texas Baseball. You will forever be in my heart, and I look forward to continuing to cheer you on in baseball and beyond.”

The decision by athletics director Chris Del Conte came more than three weeks after the season ended with a loss to Louisiana, a stretch that featured notable silence from Del Conte even though Pierce had only two years left on his contract with a buyout of $1.68 million.

“After the season, Coach Pierce and I had some time to visit about the year, the future of our program, where we are, and where we’re headed,” Del Conte said. “It was a difficult decision for us both, but we have mutually agreed that we should make a change. I am so grateful for Coach Pierce and all he has poured into our baseball program for the past eight years. He is an incredible person, and I’ve truly enjoyed my time working with him. I appreciate the passion, pride and steadfast commitment he had for coaching and working with our student-athletes and am thankful for all he’s done for Texas Athletics and our entire university community as our head coach. I wish Coach Pierce and his family the best in the future.”

A Houston native who played for the Cougars after two seasons at the junior college level, Pierce entered coaching in 1989, spending the next decade coaching at Houston-area high schools before becoming an assistant at his alma mater. After serving as an assistant under legendary Rice head coach Wayne Graham, Pierce became the head coach at Sam Houston in 2012, then moved on to Tulane in 2015, where he spent two years until Texas hired him to replace Augie Garrido in 2016.

In an uninspiring coaching search led by interim athletics director Mike Perrin, Pierce was the eventual choice after numerous other coaches signed contract extensions.

Following a rebuilding season under Pierce in 2017, Texas made an unexpected run to the College World Series in 2018 behind a spectacular season from Kody Clemens before collapsing in 2019, finishing last in the Big 12 and 26-26 overall.

Pierce steadied his tenure with a strong start in the COVID-shortened 2020 season and continued that success in 2021 with a 50-17 campaign that ended with a deep run in the College World Series stymied by Mississippi State, the eventual champions.

Facing massive expectations in 2022 with a preseason No. 1 ranking, the Longhorns struggled with a difficult schedule and the loss of budding star pitcher Tanner Witt to Tommy John surgery, tying for fifth in the conference with a 14-10 record. Texas did make it to the College World Series, but lost both games, prompting Pierce to revamp his coaching staff, firing pitching coach Sean Allen and moving assistant Philip Miller into an administrative role.

Although Texas tied for first place in the Big 12, Pierce won fewer games in 2023, a season that ended in heartbreaking fashion in the Palo Alto Super Regional when right fielder Dylan Campbell lost a fly ball in the lights at Sunken Diamond.

Pierce responded by making another change on his staff, dumping pitching coach Woody Williams after one season and taking over that role himself. But when the pitching staff struggled, including Big 12 Preseason Pitcher of the Year Lebarron Johnson Jr., Texas limped to a 36-24 record, suffered embarrassing midweek losses to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and UTRGV, and then lost four of five games in the postseason, further signs of regression under Pierce, who also saw Miller depart the program during the season.

Without an assistant to scapegoat for the state of the Longhorns pitching staff, Pierce was left to take the fall himself.

According to the Houston Chronicle, an off-field altercation involving Pierce and one of his players contributed to Del Conte’s decision:

An ugly incident with one of his pitchers after Texas’ early exit from the Big 12 Tournament in Arlington led to Pierce’s visit before the school’s Human Resources department and likely sealed his fate.

The turnover on the coaching staff, Pierce’s lack of success in the NCAA transfer portal, and the looming move to the SEC, the nation’s best baseball conference, also factored into Pierce’s firing despite the three trips to the College World Series and three conference titles during his eight-year tenure at Texas.

Del Conte is expected to move quickly to hire Pierce’s replacement with the transfer portal open and the MLB Draft looming next month.