Jay Johnson's stated goal has always been to win at least two national titles, that way no one could say the first one was just a fluke. He did that faster than anyone in history.
In just 4 years as LSU baseball head coach he finished off his second national title in a 5-3 win and sweep of Coastal Carolina in the title series, and WWL Radio's Mike Detillier sees a Hall of Fame type of trajectory with a lot of years left to add even more accolades.
"We get a lot of criticism of Jay … from people about oh, he’s Les Miles or he’s this or that, all this other stuff. Man, you can’t be critical of Jay Johnson," Detillier said. "He has done a phenomenal job, and it’s hard to walk in them moccasins. Skip Bertman won five, Paul Mainieiri won one at LSU, but it’s hard because the legacy has sort of been set, but now he’s making his own marks and congratulations to coach Johnson.”
Listen to the full breakdown from Mike Detillier in the player above. Can't see the embed? Click here.
Detillier even called back to a conversation after Johnson was hired, coming off his second CWS appearance with Arizona, when there was a comparison thrown out to 7-time SEC coach football of the Year Steve Spurrier. It certainly holds up, for at least a few reasons.
"Johnson does not have the persona of Spurrier and he recruits a lot harder than Spurrier did, because sometimes I think golf was on top of the list for Spurrier, but he’s gonna win, he’s gonna win with flair and he knows how to do it a different way each year, and that’s what college baseball is all about," Detillier said. "It’s about different players and using them and learning how to juggle a lineup and putting people in the right place at the right time, and Jay Johnson did that."
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Now, to be completely clear: Johnson is only part of the story, along with as impressive of a group of players that you'll see in college. They did it in a different way this year, relying on a duo of aces in Kade Anderson and Anthony Eyanson, sweet fielding across the board and timely hitting -- particularly with the bases loaded in the postseason. That's in comparison to the gorilla ball era under Bertman, or even in 2023 with a supernova ace in Paul Skenes and the Golden Spikes winner in Dylan Crews.
But don't fool yourself into thinking that means this group lacked talent, because this was as dominant a run in Omaha as you'll ever see -- with some fortunate bounces, or course.
"It’s about talent, but it’s about getting that talent to play to its potential," Detillier continued. "It’s about heart and it’s about grit and playing through adversity and a lot of people don’t like to hear it, but there is a little bit of sports luck involved. Man, if you don’t have that, you’re not going anywhere. They got a little bit mid-week, but really great pitching performances dominated the weekend. ... Just a great all around performance."
The champion Tigers returns to Baton Rouge Monday afternoon, with a championship celebration scheduled for Wednesday at Alex Box Stadium. Gates will open at 7 p.m.