'Slow talker' David Pierce taking reins at Texas baseball

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — For over 100 years, Texas had just four head coaches lead one of the most successful college baseball programs in the country.

[...] the Longhorns turn the program over to David Pierce, a self-described "slow-talking Texan" who doesn't yet have 200 total wins in a career spent mostly as an assistant and just five seasons as a head coach.

The former Texas high school coach and player called landing the Longhorns' job at age 53 "a special day, a special journey."

Texas reassigned former coach Augie Garrido — the winningest coach in college baseball history — after 20 years and with a year still left on his contract because the Longhorns had missed the NCAA postseason three times in the last five years.

Pierce said he's ready to embrace that expectation, although he didn't make any immediate promises and insisted he won't be consumed by the pressure for postseason success.

Fenves has shown to have a strong hand in Texas coaching searches, most notably making a flight with Perrin and football coach Charlie Strong to Tulsa, Oklahoma, in December to hire offensive coordinator Sterlin Gilbert.