OTF Premium Jim Schlossnagle on Jonah Williams' shoulder surgery, spring plans and two-sport future

[Jeff Howe]

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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[Jeff Howe]

I’ll have more later, but Schloss said he’s not at the point where he’s going to force Jonah to pick football or baseball. Schloss said the reason Williams is at Texas is because he and Sark told him he could do both and that plan as of now, according to Schloss, hasn’t changed.

[Han Soul Hole]

At the end of tje day, he's good enough to do both.  Love to see it!

[Alex Butler]

Hopefully this will be a long term fix for the young man. 

[Orange Guitar]

Regardless of whether he chooses baseball, football, or both, he has to get healthy or he can do neither. Best wishes to the young man!

[Atticus]

At the end of the day, it’s his life to live.

No matter how obvious it may seem to you, you can’t make people make significant changes in their lives before they’re ready.

[Hornmatic]

26 minutes ago, Jeff Howe said:

I’ll have more later, but Schloss said he’s not at the point where he’s going to force Jonah to pick football or baseball. Schloss said the reason Williams is at Texas is because he and Sark told him he could do both and that plan as of now, according to Schloss, hasn’t changed.

The point is Jonah himself should make the sensible decision of choosing one. 
 

We all had to drop sports and ultimately retire from athletics. My decisions came during little league  😂. Congrats to Jonah for making it this far. 

[Red Five]

32 minutes ago, Han Soul Hole said:

At the end of tje day, he's good enough to do both.  Love to see it!

Yeah I look forward to seeing him injured in both sports for years to come.

[Hornmatic]

Best ability is availability!

Can’t make the club from the tub. 

Edited yesterday at 04:09 PM by Hornmatic

[taxsaver]

Good luck to the young man.  He came to TEXAS to get that opportunity to see which sport was best for him, and at age 18 he has it all in front of him, still.  I wish him the best.  Get well soon, young man and make the doubters look like dummies!

HOOKEM

[CJ Vogel]

I was told this morning there isn't expected to be a choice between football or baseball from Jonah – at least not now.

What's next for Jonah this spring will be a lot of film/classroom work with Gideon and Muschamp for the fall. Plus his physical rehabilitation.

[jkates]

Good.

I see no reason to force him to choose. It's his life. If he doesn't want to specialize, then UT shouldn't make him. He needs to understand that might limit his ability to contribute at a max level to each team or limit his development in the sports, but so be it. 

[Jarveaux]

1 hour ago, Jeff Howe said:

I’ll have more later, but Schloss said he’s not at the point where he’s going to force Jonah to pick football or baseball. Schloss said the reason Williams is at Texas is because he and Sark told him he could do both and that plan as of now, according to Schloss, hasn’t changed.

His Dad is a Judge in Galveston. Good judgment will be used in Jonah’s decision to play one or both sports. We will probably know soon hopefully. Glad our coaches will support whatever Jonah decides. Hope Jonah heals well he will be phenomenal what ever his decision turns out to be. 

[awashbump]

He's also getting paid handsomely in football money. At some point people are going to want to see some ROI in football, or his compensation is going to be adjusted accordingly

[bourbasted]

Well, it sucks that he's injured, but maybe this will at least allow us to see him play football this year.  He's an incredible talent, but if your body won't physically allow you to play two sports, are you really a two-sport athlete?  I hope it all works out the way he wants it to.  On a bright note, both our football and baseball teams are going to be really good, if not elite, with or without Jonah as a major contributor.  I'd love to see him make an impact in one or both.

[Burnt Orange Horn]

Has there been an implied recovery schedule yet?

[Jeff Howe]

1 hour ago, Burnt Orange Horn said:

Has there been an implied recovery schedule yet?

Not yet.

[Dolphorn]

I’d give him the same free advice as I thought Kyler Murray should follow….play baseball.  He is a special baseball talent but no need to hurry on a decision. 

[watty7796]

I have great respect for Jonah the athlete.  While he may get another year maybe 2, i would prefer fo see him be great and healthy at one  as opposed to above average at both  but not excelling at either.

[ArizonaLonghorn]

1 hour ago, Dolphorn said:

I’d give him the same free advice as I thought Kyler Murray should follow….play baseball.  He is a special baseball talent but no need to hurry on a decision. 

Kyler did OK playing football, his second contract was for over $230 million ... no guarantee he'd have even reached the big leagues in baseball.

[AZ Longhorn]

12 hours ago, ArizonaLonghorn said:

Kyler did OK playing football, his second contract was for over $230 million ... no guarantee he'd have even reached the big leagues in baseball.

Not many safeties making 230M on a single contract, though, much less over a full career. Vastly different earning potential by position. 

[harveycmd]

Play baseball and don't look back.

[Timothy Jordan]

Its sad how a kid with such elite talent falls to injuries so many times, and it is my hope that this surgery will free him somewhat of re-injuring that shoulder.  I bet the OU's and A&M's of the college sports landscape are celebrating...just like the wanna-be's that they are...LOL  Hook 'em!