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Longhorns’ two-sport phenom stays committed to football and baseball after season-ending injury
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- Longhorns’ two-sport phenom stays committed to football and baseball after season-ending injury
Longhorns' two-sport phenom stays committed to football and baseball after season-ending injury originally appeared on The Sporting News . Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here .
The Texas Longhorns announced last week that two-sport athlete Jonah Williamswill undergo shoulder surgery and miss the rest of the 2026 baseball season. The sophomore, who is a safety in the football program and an outfielder on the baseball team, re-injured his shoulder diving for a ball against USC Upstate on March 6, which ended up being his final appearance of the season.
After the announcement, Texas fans and media members speculated it might be time for Williams to pick a sport.
However, Texas Baseball head coach Jim Schlossnagle put those rumors to bed, confirming Williams would continue to participate in both sports on the Forty Acres. According to Evan Vieth of Inside Texas , Schlossnagle emphasized, "he's still a two-sport athlete. 100% supportive of him being a baseball player next January. I'm obviously super supportive of him being a football player."
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Schlossnagle went on to defend the former five-star prospect, saying, "Everybody needs to get off his back. This guy loves Texas. He loves football and he loves baseball, and he's all in on his teammates."
This spring, Williams missed the first four baseball games and his role was limited when he returned due to a lingering hamstring injury. In this limited action, however, he hit well, recording a .304 batting average with two doubles and four runs batted in eight games played before being sidelined.
Williams arrived in Austin last spring as a highly touted recruit after graduating early from Ball H.S. (Galveston, TX). He first appeared as a Longhorn on the diamond in 2025, where he played in 20 games, hitting .327 in 55 at-bats with a .765 OPS, three doubles, and ten runs batted in.
Following the end of baseball season in June 2025, he transitioned to the gridiron, where he was ranked the top safety in his recruiting cycle by both 247Sports and On3 . The aforementioned hamstring injury limited his opportunities, but he played in eight games, including the Longhorns' Citrus Bowl victory over Michigan.
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Williams will likely miss all of spring camp for football following his procedure. He is expected to be cleared for the start of the season in the fall, and he will look to emerge as a key contributor in new defensive coordinator Will Muschamp's scheme as the Longhorns eye a return to the College Football Playoff in 2026.
