New Texas pitching coach Max Weiner has three main points of emphasis. Better let Luke Harrison explain.

“We’re gonna dominate the zone. We’re going to lead the league in fun, and we’re going to play one pitch at a time,” the lefthander said.

Um, lead the SEC in fun? “Oh yeah.”

How do you do that? “By playing the game with your best friends,” Harrison said. “Yeah. What's better than that?”

Who doesn’t like fun at the ballpark? The 30-year-old Weiner sure does, apparently. “There’s a lot of things with that, but I won’t say that on camera,” righthander Andre Duplantier II said. “We’re going to have fun. We’re going to play the game the best way we know how. And smile.”

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Weiner had a blast leading Texas A&M’s pitching staff last season. The Aggies finished fourth nationally with a 3.86 ERA, put up 12 shutouts and had a school-record 715 strikeouts.

Weiner left College Station for Austin along with head coach Jim Schlossnagle, but odds are the only thing that’s changed in his approach is the uniform color.

The Longhorns had the fifth-best ERA in the Big 12 last season at 4.91 while opposing teams hit .261. Those aren’t great numbers, but they’re not bad, either.

Weiner plans on bringing his wealth of pro experience to UFCU Disch-Falk Field. He was the Seattle Mariners pitching coordinator from December 2018 through July 2023 before A&M.

Schlossnagle is a huge believer in having the right mental approach. Weiner is all about that millennial life. He was named to the “35 Under 35” list by The Athletic that highlighted the 35 brightest people shaping baseball in 2019.

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Weiner was named to the “30 Under 30 2023” by Forbes in a piece highlighting those who are “winning on and off the field.” Others profiled by the magazine alongside Weiner were Texas ex Scottie Scheffler and U.S. sprinter Noah Lyles.

His calling card? Mariners pitchers increased their velocity and spent fewer days on the injured list. In 2022, three of Seattle’s four farm teams had the league’s pitcher of the year.

“There’s a hunger there to get better,” catcher Rylan Galvan said of the Texas pitchers. “I think they’re really bought into what Max Weiner is really trying to do with them. And what I've seen is pretty much every returner that came back to pitch last year has made tremendous strides, whether that be v-low and just dominating the zone.”
There’s that phrase again — dominate the zone.

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“Something that’s right on top of my mind right now is just dominate the zone,” Duplantier said. “It’s something we talk about daily, and that's what you'll see from all of our guys.”

What exactly does that mean? Under Weiner, the Mariners were known as one of the best MLB teams at having successful outcomes via first-pitch strikes and 1-1 counts.

“Throw it through the middle,” said lefthander Jared Spencer, a transfer from Indiana State. “I mean, don’t be afraid to say, here it is. Try and hit this.”

That may be the biggest thing Weiner brings as the new pitching coach: confidence. Or maybe it’s swagger. The Horns could use some of that going into the SEC.

“Max, I just love how personable he is with all of us,” Harrison said. “And, you know, it doesn't matter if you’re having a good day, a bad day, the ability to separate the result from the person and make sure that everybody is in the best head space so that they can get better every day. It's been a lot of fun to be a part of and really excited to see what we have going forward.”