'Run It Back': Schott opens up about his decision to return for 2025

On Monday morning, Hayden Schott announced on social media that he will return to Texas A&M for the 2025 baseball season. In an exclusive sitdown, Schott spoke about that decision, the waiver process and more as he prepares to run it back in Aggieland.

Key notes from Hayden Schott interview

• It felt like a new story was coming out every two minutes. My screen time is larger than it has ever been in my entire life, which is not good, and I need a three-day reset like Aaron Rodgers. It makes it all worth it when a guy like Michael Earley gets the job. I’m just so happy.
   
• I didn’t let myself get my hopes up because I’d be crushed if Earley didn’t get the job. I tried to stay objective at the time, which helped my emotions stay calm, and it made it so much better when it did happen. I immediately thought about Earley, his wife Lisa and their family. I am so happy for them.
   
• When we’re in the offseason, there is no way I’ll be awake before 10 a.m., so I was asleep when the news broke on Sunday. Jace LaViolette and I saw each other after the news came out, and we gave each other a hug. It was awesome.
   
• There are a ton of words that come to mind. The love for the people Earley coaches, it seems cliche, but it’s true. He doesn't take credit for other successes that he has a hand in. Don't let that get twisted. He is one of the most competitive people I have ever met. He can turn that switch on and off.
   
• Small school? Brauny, come on. It’s Columbia.
   
• The list goes on with what Earley helped me with. In the past, I’ve talked about how he makes extremely complicated things really simple. As a player, it makes learning easy. Whether it was loading or pitch recognition, the list goes on. The overarching theme is how easy he makes it to understand. The same goes for somebody like LaViolette, who is a cage rat. He might over swing, and Earley is great about working with guys like that too.
   
• Those who hit often hit often, and those who don’t hit often, don’t hit often. It’s all relative.
   
• I have only been here for a year, and if I can feel the way I do about Jason Hutchins, I can't imagine what I would feel if I knew him for four years or 20. He's like a father figure because of how long he has been here and how much he cares for the program. I love his family. He is such an A&M Aggie. He wants nothing more than success for Texas A&M. I love him with my whole heart.
   
• I’ve looked back on the run to the Men’s College World Series a little bit, but I feel like it will sink in more in the coming month. The beauty of our team is we never took it for granted. We appreciated it every single day. It was a gift, and we knew it. We loved showing up and competing for everyone around us. We’ve been appreciating it for the entire ride.
   
• I can't change my walk-up song from “Careless Whisper.” People are probably annoyed with it. I have to keep it. It made me so successful. I did notice the organist playing it in Omaha. At one point, I was like, “He was ruining it.” Only George Michael can do that on the organ.
   
• I feel pretty similar physically. I have surgery on my knee in the next week or two, and hopefully, I can use our great trainers and PT people here as quickly as possible. It depends on what they do to my meniscus, but it could be two months of recovery, but it will likely be between the four to five month range.
   
• Will Fox is an underappreciated guy, as far as the public knows. He has a great feeling for the game and the people around it. He is a really intelligent baseball mind. He knows about the game beyond his years. You see this fun and charismatic dude, and then you see him on the field, and you're like, “This guy knows his stuff.”
   
• With the Earley hire, it makes you want to do it for him and the team even more, as well as the 12th Man. There is some fire because we had a great year, and we want to do it again. We want to keep it going, and for a guy like me, we want to keep it going for the next 40 years. I’ll be an A&M baseball fan forever.
   
• I think having that picture of me and LaViolette... There is so much emotion and also a sigh of like, "Holy crap, that was a long season." You sometimes forget that in the fall. It's important to remind yourself of that.
   
• I feel the momentum with Texas A&M Athletics. I’ve talked to Conner Weigman a little bit, and I’m good friends with Henry Coleman III, too. The support we feel from them is awesome, and it goes both ways. This is A&M, and we support each other. Now that baseball season is over, it’s like, “Let’s go to football and watch us win.”
   
• Oh, man. I have to do a lot of recruiting. I feel like that is my side job. It's genuine. I don't like to blow smoke. I am not gaslighting people when I say how much I love this place. It has been pretty organic.
   
• My parents love me. They're so happy. They’re selfishly happy because they get to spend more time here and have more beer bats while I play. I’ll probably have to cut my dad off. The parents care just as much as the players, truly.
   
• The hotel stuff in Omaha is what got to me. The whole hotel was filled with Aggie fans. Even after the Game 2 loss. The support that Aggies showed there, it was more than I thought, and it was so damn cool.
   
• I love the stories of the people who didn’t get to come to watch a game in College Station but have always dreamt of watching the Aggies play in Omaha. I believe people have been waiting to do that for a long time. It makes it all worth it because it probably made their whole year. We’re not blind to the fact that people appreciate us like that, and we certainly appreciate them like that too. It’s awesome to play in front of all sorts of fans.