New Tigers head baseball coach Jay Johnson was introduced publicly for the first to the LSU faithful Monday.
Johnson, the former six-year head coach at Arizona, said helming a program like LSU is “the opportunity of my lifetime” and he relishes the challenge as well as the spotlight.
“When I think about the 44 years of my entire life I really believe that every day has led me to this podium right now, to this program and it is beyond a dream come true,” said Johnson, whose Wildcats made two College World Series appearances in six years.
Johnson said he always looked up to LSU going back to the 90s where purple jerseys were staples in Omaha and that Skip Bertman was a role model during his first years coaching.
“I was a very young coach, like 24-years-old, 23-years-old and coaching like Connie Mack Baseball and I had no idea what I was doing at that point in the time so who was the best in the country at what I want to do? It was Skip Bertman,” said Johnson. “So I bought his videotape, it was called How to Win the Big One, I can’t tell you how influential that was in my development as a coach.”
Johnson is known as an offensive guru and a master batting coach but his skills as a recruiter are still in question. While his Wildcats led the NCAA in runs scored last year coaching and strategy alone isn’t enough to compete in the SEC. He said to get the best of the best he’ll sell recruits on LSU’s storied history as a top program.
“You get a chance to be the next Warren Morris at the plate in the 9th inning of the College World Series and come through, you get a chance to be the next Alex Bregman, everything is possible here,” said Johnson.